The Art of Diplomacy
by kate-dammit-run
Summary: Blindspot AU fic where Alice and Ian Kruger's parents are not killed that night and they go on to live a long life during which they help end Apartheid. Their children follow in their footsteps, with Alice becoming a renowned activist and diplomat herself. A trip to New York City causes her path to cross FBI Agent Kurt Weller's path. Jeller.
1. Chapter 1

The Art of Diplomacy

Summary: Blindspot AU fic where Alice and Ian Kruger's parents— Mary and Robert Kruger— are not killed that night and they go on to live a long life during which they help end Apartheid. Their children follow in their footsteps, with Alice becoming a renowned activist and diplomat herself. A trip to New York City causes her path to cross FBI Agent Kurt Weller's path.

AN: Please let me know if you're interested in it and if I should go on. Thanks!

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**Chapter 1**

**Residential Palace**

**Kingdom of Kambezi**

"Prince Chidike, you know how committed we are to these peace negotiations," Alice Kruger sat up straighter and fixed her jacket, "but we need assurances from the Zambezi government that you are just as committed and will continue with you remarkable works on reforms and fighting corruption."

In front of her, the young prince, heir to the Zambezi throne, squared his jaw and nodded. "Kambezi's commitment is not something you have to worry about," he said firmly, "I am certain in your meeting with our prime minister later today you will be quite happy with what we have been working on and what we have planned."

The meeting was the first in a series that Alice Kruger had planned for the week. They were to be followed by just an intense week in the neighboring country of Odan— the second half of these peace negotiations— before she was due to fly out to New York City for the UN's General Assembly and hopefully finalize the deal. But for now, she had to wrap up this meeting, as her assistant Afreen was indicating from across the room, in order to make it to her next meeting and fundraiser lunch.

Alice got up, fixed her outfit and shook the Prince's hand, making sure to smile to all the right cameras and answer some of the questions being hurled their way.

"Ms. Kruger," Afreen spoke quietly as she approached her from the side, "your car is ready."

Alice nodded and smiled. "Just give me a minute," she said, "and if you can clear the room—"

"Of course," Afreen said and along with the Prince's security personnel began to usher everyone out, leaving the renowned South African activist and the Prince alone.

"I thought they'd never leave," Prince Chidike sighed and relaxed his shoulders once the room was empty.

Alice chuckled and turned to him— the air of diplomacy and formality dropping around them.

"It's so good to see you, Lissie," the Prince said, referring to her by the intimate nickname that very few people were allowed to use.

"Good to see you, too, Chidi," Alice said and allowed him to pull her into a tight hug, "it's been too long."

In fact, aside from official diplomatic events, the two childhood friends had not seen each other properly in almost four years— not since their university's five year reunion event.

"And unfortunately, I have to get going," she said as they pulled back, "but I have to say, I am amazed by all the work you're doing here."

"It's all you, Lissie," Prince Chidike said, "you're inspired us to be better."

Alice gave him a smile and grabbed her belongings. "I'll see you in New York, yeah?" She said as she headed towards the door.

"Yes, you will," he replied, "take care."

On the other side of the door, Patterson was waiting for Alice to join her. Patterson— Patty to only two people in the entire world— was Alice's right hand woman, and more importantly her best friend. She was the backbone of Alice's organizations, the one person without whom none of the work Alice has done over the years could've been possible. She was the real brains behind the operation, Alice's confidante, if Alice played her cards right— and if her brother would stop risking his life around the world— her future sister in law.

"We're good to go?" Alice asked as she stepped next to Patterson.

The other woman was focused on her tablet, flipping between apps and documents, and she almost jumped back when Alice spoke.

"Everything ok?" Alice asked, chuckling at her friend's uncharacteristically frazzled reaction.

Patterson looked up and then back at her tablet, locking the screen, and shoving jt into her bag. "Yeah, everything's good," she smiled, "let's get going."

**Brooklyn, New York**

**USA**

Special Agent Kurt Weller checked his watch— again— and gritted his teeth.

8:25pm.

he looked around him at the dark abandoned junkyard and then back towards the lone building that stood in the middle of it. "Reade. Zapata," he whispered into his comms, "how far out are you?"

"We're still about fifteen minutes," Zapata replied.

"Damn it," Weller hissed, "and beta team?"

"They're at least thirty minutes," Zapata said— sensing her boss's anger through the comm— "the bomb scare at the station has the city in lock down. No one can get anywhere."

Weller shut his eyes for a moment and cursed under his breath.

"We don't have thirty minutes," he said, "those kids don't have thirty minutes."

"What are you saying, Weller?" Zapata asked nervously.

"I'm going in—"

"What? No, you can't do that!" Zapata said, silently urging her partner to speed up.

"Weller, that's insane! We don't know how many—" Reade urges him.

"Just give us a few minutes—"

"Stuart, make sure Reade and Zapata have the blueprints for the building," Weller said, ignoring them and issuing his order to the lab tech back at the NYO.

"Agent Weller, sir, I don't think—"

"Just do it, Stuart," Weller ordered sternly, "I'm going off comms now."

"Shit," Zapata kicked the console in front of her, "shit. Shit. Shit."

"Agent Zapata? Agent Reade?" Stuart's voice trembled through the comms, "should I inform Assistant Director Mayfair of this development?"

"Shit!"

"Yes, Stuart," Reade sighed, "loop her in."

"No, Reade—"

"We've got to, Zapata," Reade said, "she's gonna be furious but more so if we don't update her now."

"What the hell is wrong with him? Why would he go in alone?!" Zapata groaned.

"You know why," Reade said quietly, "now let's just make sure we make it there before he gets himself killed."

**Somewhere on the streets of the Kambezi Capital**

Alice watched Patterson closely from across the backseat of the car that was taking them to their next meeting— the last of the day before they went back to their hotel and prepared for the long day they had ahead of them again tomorrow. As per usual, Patterson's eyes were glued to her tablet, but there was something slightly off with her— she seemed distracted by something which was not like her at all.

"So I was thinking we could go to that place in downtown to grab dinner…" she said, "you know the one we went to last time. You had the grilled roadkill burger with a side of fries?"

"Mhm… sounds good," Patterson mumbled.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Come on!" Alice threw her hands up, "what's up with you?"

She nudged Patterson with her foot and the other woman finally looked up.

"What?"

"What? What? I just suggested we have roadkill for dinner and you just shrugged at that!" Alice laughed, "what's up with you?"

Patterson sighed and closed her eyes for a moment and then put the tablet on the seat between them. "There is… something," she said.

"I figured as much," Alice said, "talk to me, Patts."

"You've been getting some threats over these peace talks," Patterson admitted.

"Ok," Alice said, straightening up in her seat, "but that was expected, wasn't it? Don't we get this sort of thing all the time?"

Patterson nodded. "Yeah, of course, but this time I think it might be more serious."

"Come on," Alice argued, "don't overthink it. Remember the magazine profile last month? We got threats because I said I prefer grilled chicken over fried chicken. It's never going to end but it's nothing to worry about."

"I would agree with you, usually," Patterson replied, "and I would know. I am the one who filters through all these messages and letters and emails we get. I know how ridiculous they can be. But I also know when to flag something as truly worth looking into—"

"Patterson—"

"No, hear me out," Patterson put her hand up, urging Alice to listen to her, "I wouldn't have brought this up if I hadn't done my due diligence. When our security team brought this to me weeks ago, I thought it was going to be just another one of those usual harmless things. But we looked into it. We've brought in experts. This is not something we can ignore."

"What are you saying?" Alice asked.

"We knew going into this that it's going to be unlike anything we've ever done. We're not only trying to get two governments to sign a piece of paper here. There is so much history. So much blood. So many people who have lost so much and feel this deal will not do them justice—"

"I'm trying my best—"

"I know," Patterson said with a smile, "but it doesn't mean a lot of people won't be angry. Not to mention the fact that you exposed the former Prime Minister of Odan for decades of corruption and he's now awaiting trial. You've made more enemies in past five months than you've done your whole life and this time, these death threats… they're real."

**FBI New York Office**

It was well after 1am when Kurt Weller finally made it to the NYO. He knew what was waiting for him— a very angry boss and a well deserved punishment. And Kurt Weller was so stranger to being benched after pulling dangerous and reckless stunts like the one he did a few hours ago. So as the elevator doors opened, he took a deep breath and stepped off and towards Assistant Director Bethany Mayfair's office.

"I missed my sister's birthday dinner," she said as he walked in. She was seated behind her desk, arms crossed over her chest and a no nonsense look on her face— her trademark look, actually, one that Kurt Weller knew very well having first been introduced to it as angry and slightly delinquent fifteen year old.

"And then I had to wait an hour for you to be cleared by medical and come back here," she added, watching as he stood there— his face bruised and battered and a gash across his eyebrow.

It was amazing how after all these years, and after everything that he had gone through, he still sometimes managed to look like that tall, lanky and very lost teenager she arrested during her first month with the NYPD.

"Sit down, Weller," she finally said to him.

They were silent for a moment, her studying him closely and him trying to decide how to approach this.

"We got them, ma'am," he finally said, "every single one of them. And we got all those children out."

"I know," she said coldly.

"That's a win," he added and she nodded.

"And you look like hell," she said, frowning at the way he just shrugged at that.

"I'm fine—"

"I cannot even begin to explain how stupid that was, how entirely reckless and selfish your decision was," she berated him.

"Ma'am—"

"No, I'm not done," she scolded, "I don't know what I'm supposed to say to you or what I am supposed to do to make you understand… this is not about you, Weller. I know you don't care about your own life. I've come to terms with that and I am done trying to convince you otherwise. But you have to understand this is not about just you anymore. There are other people you need to—"

"I know, ma'am," Weller whispered.

Mayfair sighed. She was tired. It had been a long day and she she knew she had to do something but now was not the time.

"Go home, Kurt," she said quietly, "I'll see you Monday."

"Thank you, ma'am," he said as he got up and headed towards the door.

"This is not over, agent Weller," she called after him and he nodded, looking over his shoulder and giving her an understanding look.

**Back in Kambezi**

"We're going to be late, Patterson, we'll talk about this later," Alice sighed and picked her laptop up from the coffee table.

"That's what you said last night, Alice," Patterson insisted, "and then you shut me down when I tried to bring it up. We need to decide what to do."

"Well, from what I've heard, you've already decided what should be done and my opinion doesn't matter," Alice frowned.

"Of course your opinion materials," Patterson said, "it's the most important thing and nothing will be decided without your approval. I was just telling you what the security team told me and what their advice is moving forward, especially with the trip to New York."

"And their advice is getting a bodyguard to follow me every where?" Alice rolled her eyes.

"That's not what I said," Patterson replied, "what I said was they advised upping our security measures until they figure out who's behind this."

"Our security measures are just fine," Alice said.

Patterson laughed at that. "Our security measures are you, me and Afreen hopping around the globe and checking in with your mom when we land," Patterson replied.

Alice shrugged and hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. "And it's worked perfectly fine," Alice said, "we're still here, aren't we?"

"Come on, Alice," Patterson sighed, "please."

"Let's just get to this meeting, Patts," Alice sighed, "we'll talk afterwards. I promise."

**Brooklyn, NYC**

Sunday morning brunch with his sister, Sarah, and her son, Sawyer, was the one thing that Kurt looked forward to the most every week— at least on the Sundays when he wasn't working. Kurt and his sister were very close— having had to spend most of their childhood fending for themselves and watching out for each other and practically alone for most of their lives— they were all they had for so long.

"Will you get that, Sawyer?" Sarah called out to her son from the kitchen when the doorbell rang. She'd just buzzed her brother up and rushed back to the kitchen to check on the cookies— the one thing she knew how to make. The actual edible brunch part of the meal was to be prepared by Kurt, so the least she could do was bake her famous double chocolate cookies, which also happened to be Kurt and Sawyer's favorite.

"Uncle Kurt!" Sawyer greeted him as he opens the door and launches himself at him. Kurt bit back a hiss at the pain the impact caused his aching body and hugged his nephew back.

"Oh wow! Did you get those catching a bad guy?" Sawyer asked in admiration at the sight of Kurt's bruised face.

A few steps behind her son, Sarah winced. She knew how her brother could be and knew that he had most definitely taken a crazy risk to end up looking like that.

"Yeah," Kurt replied as he walked in and gave his sister a sheepish smile, "the other guy looks much worse," he tried to make light of the topic but that did not ease Sarah's concern.

She closed the distance between them and gave him a gentle hug. "You're an idiot," she said as she squeezed his shoulder and reached to take the grocery bag from him. "I got everything we need," she gestured towards the groceries she had already laid out in the kitchen, "what's this for?"

"Ice cream," Kurt said with a smile, "to go with the cookies. Sawyer texted me last night that you forgot to buy some."

Next to him, Sawyer smiled proudly and gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks uncle Kurt!" The young boy beamed and grabbed the bag from his mother to insect his uncle's choices. "Chocolate, good. Cookies and cream, good. Coffee? Ew."

"That one's mine," Sarah announced and grabbed the tub from her son.

"And this one," Kurt said, reaching for the last one in the bag, "is mine!" He pulled out the double dark chocolate option from the bag and smiled.

**Capetown, South Africa**

"She's taking it a little too far, though, don't you think?" Alice sighed as she placed her coffee mug on the kitchen counter in front of her.

He parents shared a look and then both turned to look at her, with a synchronized head tilt.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you agree with her?" Alice said.

"Sweetheart, from what I understand, those threats aren't a joke," he father said, "and Patterson wouldn't have brought them up if she weren't genuinely concerned about you."

"I thought you guys would be on my side on this," Alice mumbled, "now you're making it sound like I'm the unreasonable."

"No ones being unreasonable, dear," her mother said softly.

"She wants to hire a security team to follow me around everywhere I go!" Alice threw her hands up in the air.

"Maybe that's not such a bad idea," her mother said, "at least for a while."

"How can I get any work done with a couple of brute muscle men standing on my shoulder the whole time," she said,

"It won't be like that," her father replied.

"Alice, you have to think about what you're doing here," her mother said, "this is more than just about you. A lot of people could get hurt if this threat is real. Not to mention the damage that could be done to the peace talks. This is not about just you. This is much bigger."

"Exactly, this is not about me," Alice said, "so why should I be given any special treatment—"

"Alice, this is not about special treatment," her father said.

"You guys never had any special treatment and you were constantly in danger," Alice said.

"And that was one of the mistakes we did," her mother said.

"I don't understand," Alice replied.

"You don't remember this… you were about six years old… Ian was five," her mother said, "we got lucky that day… very lucky."

"What are you talking about?" Alice asked and watched her parents share a look.

"We'd gotten a series of death threats, we always did, but we were told those seemed more serious but we just ignored them," her father said, "and it almost cost us everything."

"Three assassins got into the house. You and your brother were sleeping and we were getting ready for bed," her mother explained, "and they would've gotten to us… all of us… if it weren't for the dogs next door. They started barking incessantly and… well, let's just say… we were all very lucky that night."

"Mom—"

"So, no… Patterson is not being unreasonable," her mother added.

Alice reached for her coffee again— staring at the black liquid for a long moment, silently.

"Ok," she finally said, "but I won't like it."

Her mother let out a chuckle and her father shook his head. "Of course you won't, dear, of course you wont."

**FBI New York Office**

Monday morning saw Kurt Weller back in Mayfair's office awaiting the consequences of his latest stunt.

"I had intended to make you do everyone's paperwork on this case. Yours, Reade's Zapata's, Stuart's…" Mayfair said, "and I was looking forward to it seeing how much you hate paperwork."

Mayfair didn't smirk or show any sign of enjoying dining out this punishment onto her best field agent. There was no joy in this for her. She knew Weller's talents were best being out in the field, leading her CIRG team and being that hotheaded agent that he was. But she knew she had to do this, even if after twenty years of knowing him she knew there was probably no point in trying to get him to change his ways. But still, she tried.

"But then this morning an interesting file dropped on my desk, and I think I know what your next mission is," she said.

"Whatever you think is appropriate, ma'am," Weller replied.

"You do know who Alice Kruger is, right?" She asked him.

"She's the South African activist," Weller replied.

"That's right," Mayfair said, "she is currently spearheading the peace talks between Odan and Kambezi. Not an easy task."

"I suppose not," Weller replied, "whats that got to do—"

"Her team has flagged a number of death threats directed at her recently," Mayfair said, "and she's due to take part in the UN general assembly this week here in New York."

Kurt tilted his head sideways and knotted his brow. He didn't like where this was going.

"Her organization and the South African embassy have requested our assistance on the matter," Mayfair said.

"They want us to find out who's behind the threats?" Weller asked hopefully.

"No," Mayfair replied, "we're providing security for her and her team."

"No," Weller whispered.

"Yes," Mayfair said firmly.

"You want me on security detail for a diplomat? At the UN? During general assembly?" Weller complained.

"Exactly," Mayfair insisted.

"So a babysitting job?"

"Basically, yes," Mayfair said.

"But, ma'am—"

"No buts," Mayfair replied, "it's either that or a month of sitting behind a desk and filling in paperwork."

Weller closed his eyes and took a deep breath. At least this won't have him cooped up indoors, he tried to tell himself. At least it's still a field task.

"Do I get to pick my own team? Run this task on my terms?" He asked.

"I'll give you that, yes," Mayfair said, "as long as you don't get blown up along the way."

"Fine, I'll do it," he mumbled under his breath, "but I won't like it."

"Of course you won't," Mayfair said, "and that is the point of a punishment, Weller."


	2. Chapter 2

**Capetown, South Africa**

"That was Director Mayfair from the New York office of the FBI," Patterson said as she hung up the phone, "her team will be on the ground at JFK to meet us."

"FBI?" Alice sighed as she looked up from her laptop, "you got the FBI into this?"

"I told you we're going to do everything to—"

"I just thought that meant hiring one or two people from some private security company to handle this," Alice said, "not the freaking FBI!"

Patterson took a deep breath and sat down next to her friend. Their taxi was arriving any moment now and she knew that Alice wasn't going to handle this well— in fact she already wasn't handling well— and she hoped she could get this argument out of the way before they were on their way or stuck together on two very long flights.

"I did get in contact with a private security company," Patterson explained, "I also sent the threats to an expert. It was their professional opinion to forward this to the FBI. Alice, please, you need to understand this is not a joke. This threat is a serious one. What we're doing in Kambezi and Odan is very important work. It will put an end to decades of bloodshed. It will bring peace and save millions of lives. And we all know going in that it wouldn't be without its dangers, especially after what happened with the Prime Minister of Odan."

"You can argue that the work that is being done can go on even if something happens to you," Patterson added, closing her eyes for a moment, "and that would be very… noble of you, but you cannot guarantee if something does happen that others won't get hurt, or that it won't have ramifications on what we're doing. You don't know what this threat holds beyond someone doing something to hurt you personally. Whoever is behind it can have so many other things in store as well. Terrorist attacks, more assassinations, igniting another war…"

"I understand, Patterson," Alice said gently, "I really do… and I trust you," she reached over and took her friend's hand, "you know that, right? Whatever you see is the right thing to do… and I know I'm gonna be a handful during all this, so I am gonna apologize now for definitely making this hard on you going forward."

Patterson let out a small laugh and shook her head. "You're impossible," she said.

"At least you're not handling my brother's security, right?" Alice teased and Patterson rolled her eyes.

"Don't get me started on your dumb brother right now," Patterson got up and grabbed her phone from in front of her as it beeped.

"Actually, let's talk about my brother," Alice laughed.

"Shut up," Patterson said, "come on, let's go. Our taxi's here."

"Do they have to meet us at the airport, though? Can't they just meet us at the hotel?"

"This is gonna be a _long_ trip," Patterson mumbled under her breath as she opened the door, "remind me again where your brother is these days? Maybe I _will_ go join him."

**FBI NYO, New York**

"You guys can refuse the assignment," Kurt said as he looked between Zapata and Reade, "I know you are on a much higher pay grade than being on a security detail, and I know I am the one who's being punished for that stunt I pulled— which again I'm sorry I put you through it—"

"It's fine," Reade said, "you don't have to apologize for that."

Kurt nodded, glancing quickly towards Zapata to gauge her reaction as well, "okay… but like I said, you guys can say no to this assignment. I can ask anyone else to—"

"No, we're your team, we've got your back," Zapata said, "even if it's a boring babysitting job."

"Are you sure? I doubt you're gonna get the chance to beat the crap out of anyone," Kurt asked her.

"Special Agent Weller? Did you just make a joke?" Zapata laughed.

Weller shrugged and gave her a small, quick smile, "I guess I did."

"Well, just for that, I'm definitely saying yes to this assignment," Zapata replied.

"Reade?" Kurt turned to Zapata's partner.

"We're your team, Weller," Reade replied, "and maybe for one it would be fun for one not to get my suit dirty or get blown up."

"You're so boring," Zapata rolled her eyes at him and then they both turned towards Kurt seriously.

"We're in," they said.

"Thanks guys," he said, "I owe you one."

Kurt watched them leave and sighed in relief. Mayfair wasn't too happy when he told her he wanted those two on his team for this assignment. She wasn't willing to send her top duo— the agents who were second only to Weller himself— on this seemingly insignificant assignment. It was enough that she was losing Weller for a week and she preferred to keep those two working at SIOC. But she also knew that Weller new how to work with them— and more importantly, they knew how to work with him. Any of the other low level and young agents she had proposed would probably break working under directly Weller.

She made sure he understood that if anything major came up, he would have to let Reade and Zapata return to SIOC, but for now he could assign the team of his choosing to the job.

**Somewhere over the Atlantic**

"And that's done," Alice sighed in relief. She turned to her left, looking across the aisle towards Afreen, "please tell me that's the last one."

Afreen smiled and reached across to take the tablet from off Alice's tray table. "That was the last one," she confirmed, "at least until we land and get to the hotel. Sorry."

Alice shook her head and chuckled. "Well, that won't be for another couple of hours so I'm good. We can all stop working for a bit," she said looking between Patterson to her right and Afreen to her left, "and you can go back to that movie you were watching… the one with the obscenely beautiful man."

"Jason Momoa," Afreen sighed as she picked up her headphone, "his name is Jason Momoa."

Alice laughed and shifted in her seat, turning to to look towards Patterson, who was still on her laptop. "Take a break, Patts," Alice said.

"I am," Patterson said, "I'm not working. Just catching up on some non-work emails."

"Ok," Alice said as she started flipping through the movie options on the screen in front of her.

"I wanted to ask… have you heard from your brother lately?" Patterson asked.

Alice turned back to her and shook her head. "Not since he crossed into Syria," Alice said somberly, "that was a week ago… have you talked to him since?"

Patterson shook her head in response. "But I have been tracking him," she said, "he's fine."

Alice sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I can't believe we're making all this fuss around keeping me safe and getting the FBI involved and Ian's out there infiltrating a war zone all by himself—"

"To help rescue kids caught in the middle of it," Patterson reminded her.

"I'm not saying he's not there doing something incredible… just that… he puts his life in danger every single day and goes radio silent for weeks on end and I'm over here being coddled—"

"You're not being coddled," Patterson said, "your brother knows the risks and he takes all the precautions necessary in the situations he's in. Just like you are."

"I just… I worry about him," Alice said.

"So do I," Patterson agreed.

Alice looked up and squeezed Patterson's hand gently.

"You should tell him that," Alice said.

"I do," Patterson replied.

"No, I mean really tell him," Alice said, "maybe if you two stop pining for each—"

"I'm not pining for him," Patterson huffed, "and he's definitely not pining for me! Your brother dates— when he's not throwing himself in the middle of war zones— he dates super models and heiresses… he's not pining for me."

"For a certified genius, you're an absolute idiot, P," Alice laughed, "and I say this with all the love in the world."

"You're one to give romantic advice," Patterson rolled her eyes, "have you even returned that poor guy's calls yet? He has Calle you like fifty time in the last two days and—"

"I texted him and told him I'll be in New York," Alice replied, "so maybe we'll get together there. Now, let's watch that movie Afreen is watching because this really hot guy is half naked and completely drenched in like all of it."

**Terminal 4, JFK Airport, New York**

Kurt, Tasha and Reade stood in the arrivals waiting area at JFK. The flight was due to land in half an hour. Alice Kruger and her team were entering on a diplomatic visa and so they expected them not to take long to get through security.

Kurt checked his watch and then looked back at the large monitors. The screen indicated that the flight was due to land on time.

Weller pulled his phone out and opened the assignment documents— all the information they had and they needed on Alice Kruger, her team and her work. He'd spent all the previous night and day studying the file on the renowned activist as well as studying the threats she had received. According to Mayfair, their assignment did not include investigating the threats, but still, the agent in Weller couldn't help himself. He couldn't officially investigate these threats, but he knew he wouldn't be able to let it go.

He was reading the article on the prime minister of Odan when he's phone vibrated with an incoming call from Allie.

Kurt looked at the screen for a moment, debating whether to take the call or not, before Tasha nudged his arm. "Take the call," she said, "the plane hasn't even landed yet."

Kurt quickly glanced back towards the monitor and then back to his phone. "I'll only be a couple of minutes," he said as he tapped the phone.

"Hello?" He said, turning away from the pair as a wide smile found its way to his lips, "hi, baby."

Weller didn't lie. He was back in under three minutes and back to switching between his phone and the monitor while Reade and Tasha next to him debated whether the Knicks would have a better or worse upcoming season than the one that just ended.

The minute the notification on the screen changed to "landed", Kurt shoved his phone back into his pocket and focused on the door where the passengers were exiting from.

They didn't have to wait too long for Alice and her team to arrive, with Patterson first out the door and the others behind her. Kurt, Tasha and Reade approached them until they met halfway towards the exit.

"Hello, Ms. Kruger, I'm Special Agent Kurt Weller," he said, "this is Agent Zapata and Agent Reade. We'll be handling your security during your stay in New York."

Alice stood in front of him, a bag slung over her shoulder and pulling a carry on behind her. She studied him for a moment. Somehow he was exactly what she was expecting but also not exactly what she was expecting. She imagined someone bigger— more steroid induced muscle man. She also didn't expect a Special Agent. She assumed the FBI would assign a bodyguard job to someone junior— not someone with the experience she assumed Agent Weller had from just looking at him.

"Agent Weller," Alice finally said, taking her hand off the handle of her cary on to shake his, "I hope you and your team aren't the hovering type. My team and I have a lot of work to do and can't have you hindering our work."

"Of course not, ma'am," Kurt nodded, "let's get going then."

The other stood by silently, sharing quiet looks and just following the cues from those two— the clear alphas in this situation.

Alice nodded, tilting her head, silently giving her permission to lead the way.

Weller tried to reach past her to take her carry on from her but Alice turned away from him.

"I can handle it," she said, "your my body guard, not my porter, Agent."

**On the streets of New York City**

They'd split up in two SUV's— Alice and Afreen riding with Weller while Patterson rode with Reade and Zapata.

In the back seat, Afreen was already on the phone, arranging the first meeting they had the next morning. In the front, the silence was heavy— making Afreen grateful for her long to do list. The two in front were clearly studying each other, making mental notes and waiting to see who will break the silence first.

"I understand you're staying under a fake name at the hotel," Weller finally said, "that's smart."

"I know it is," Alice said, looking at him closely as he kept his eyes on the road, "it was Patterson's idea."

They stopped at a red light and Kurt turned slightly to look at her— just as she turned away to look at the road in front of her. He had to admit, even though he'd read her file and had pretty much prepared himself to be confronted by a strong, smart woman, she was proving to be more intriguing than he'd expected. He figured she was going to be something different from the moment she squared up to him at the airport and studied him.

He'd always believed he was a hard person to read, that the walls he had built around himself were impenetrable, but in those brief seconds, he had felt like she was reading him with more clarity than he had ever allowed anyone. It was impressive but also a little unsettling.

"Jane Addams," he said, "like the Nobel Peace Prize winning activist."

Alice's mouth twitched, keeping her eyes on the road for a moment and she bit her lip. "You did your research," she said with a smirk as she turned towards him.

"You're assuming I didn't already know who Jane Addams was?" Kurt asked, his fingers tapping the steering wheel as he locked eyes with her.

Alice shrugged and she kept his gaze. "I'm not assuming anything," she said briefly.

"It's not exactly a fake name though, is it?" Kurt added, breaking eye contact with her to check the light.

"How big is that file you have on me, Agent Weller?" Alice quipped.

"Big enough to know your middle name is Jane and your mother's maiden name is Adams," Kurt replied.

"That's a pretty big file, then," she replied.

"We're thorough at the FBI," he said with a smirk.

"Then you should also know that no one calls me Jane—"

"Except for your brother," Kurt said, "Roman Ian Kruger. Currently infiltrating an ISIS camp in Idlib—"

Alice's eyes narrowed, he jaw clenched. "You're keeping tabs on my brother?" She asked angrily.

"Not keeping tabs," Kurt replied quietly, "the FBI is just—"

"He doesn't need you to look out for him," Alice said, "he is fine on his own—"

"I am sure he does," Kurt said, "I didn't mean to imply that…"

Alice looked away, staring out the window and Kurt returned his eyes to the road ahead as the light turned green. They were silent for a few minutes— the only sound in the car coming from Afreen typing on her laptop in the back seat.

"Is he ok?" Alice whispered the question the next time they were stopped at a light.

Kurt turned to her and nodded. "He's fine," he reassured her.

"Can I ask you something?" Kurt asked.

Alice looked at him and nodded.

"Why does he go by his middle name and you go by your first?" He asked.

"I don't know," Alice replied, "just how it happened somewhere along the way."

"But he calls you Jane?" He asked.

"Yeah," Alice chuckled, "he enjoys the fact that we're twins who basically have the same name. He teases my parents that they were lazy."

Kurt smiled at that and watched her for another moment.

"Which do you prefer?"

"I'm sorry?" She gave him a funny look.

"Which name do you prefer?" He asked again.

"I don't… I… I haven't really thought about it," she said thoughtfully, "but I guess… Alice is the name the rest of the world knows me by at this point…"

"And Jane is more personal?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Alice watched him as he gave her a small nod and turned back to the road. She studied him for a moment as she recapped that conversation in her mind and she suddenly felt uncomfortably exposed, having admitted something so personal, something she had never verbalized to anyone, let alone this stranger— the American FBI agent she very much did not want to be protecting her.

Upon arrival at the hotel, Alice, Patterson and Afreen checked in as Reade stayed with them. Upstairs, Kurt and Tasha were shown to the room by the hotel's head of security and they conducted their full check of it. A couple of agents had swept the room earlier that day, but true to his nature, Kurt had to do it again— trusting almost no one but himself.

"She's gonna be a handful," Tasha commented as she stepped out of the bathroom, "not that laid back easy job you had in mind."

"I guess not," Kurt replied as he finished his check of the second bedroom in the suite.

"As long as we don't get blown up along the way, right?" Tasha laughed as they met in the central living space.

"Let's hope not," Kurt said, "but we can't be complacent, Zapata," he added sternly, "this threat is a real thing. So we can't dwell on how welcome we are here or not and we have to be one step ahead the whole time. Our job is to protect—"

"You do realize that I don't need a babysitter," Alice's voice interrupted him from the doorway to the suite.

"Of course not, ma'am," Kurt said, standing up straighter, "and please rest assured we are not here to hover or make your work any harder. My team and I will not stand in your way at all. We will not limit your activities or your going and coming around."

He silently signaled for Reade and Tasha to start heading out. "Our job here is to ensure your safety and security— yours and your team's— so that you may continue to do the important work you're here to do," he gave her a polite nod and made his way towards the door, "we will be right outside if you need anything. Enjoy your evening."

Alice remained silent, crossing her arms over her chest and watched him leave. She had intended to rile him up with her comment. She wasn't sure why— maybe it was because of the way he'd manage to break through her defenses in the car or maybe because on some level she was enjoying get under his skin. There was clearly a story behind why he was given this job he was overqualified for and the way he held himself— the way he walked and talked and commanded a room— she wasn't used to having someone else have that power around other people—

"You _can_ take easy on them, you know that, right?" Patterson huffed as Weller closed the door behind him.

Alice gave her a sideways glance and then dropped her arms. Shrugging her jacket off and tossing it on the couch. "I know," Alice replied, "but not just yet."

Patterson and Afreen both sighed and grabbed their bags walking off towards the second bedroom with them.

"Mayfair really knows how to punish you when she wants to," Reade commented as the three agents took their place in the hallways outside the suite.

Kurt sighed and dropped back against the wall, closing his eyes and resting his head back. "Yeah," he mumbled, "she does."

"You don't have to stay here," Reade added, "Zapata and I can have this first shift and we'll switch with you in a few hours."

"Yeah, I know…" Kurt said as he straightened, "how about we do it the other way round. I'll take this first shift, and you guys take the next?"

Patterson found Alice in the living area, pouring over some paperwork. She walked up to her with a smug look on her face. "I've got something for you," she said as she sat down.

"What?" Alice asked.

"Check the shared drive," Patterson said and then pointed at a file on Alice's computer screen, "everything you need to know on Special Agent Kurt Weller. At least everything I could dig up without raising any flags."

"Are you sure you want to encourage my behavior?" Alice chuckled.

"I was hoping this would make you less of thorn in his side if you got to know him," Patterson corrected.

"I did tell you I wasn't gonna like this," Alice teased, "did you read it?"

Patterson nodded. "I'm gonna order us some room service," Patterson said as she got up.

"Great," Alice replied just as her phone started vibrating with an incoming call. She looked at the screen and that back at Patterson. "I gotta take this," she said, grabbing the phone and heading towards her room.

Patterson opened the suite door and stepped out into the hall.

"Everything ok, ma'am?" Weller quickly asked.

She gave him a warm smile. "Everything's fine Agent Weller," she said, "I was just gonna order us some room service and was wondering if I could get you guys any— where are agents Reade and Zapata?"

"They're taking the next shift," Weller explained, "and no, thanks, I'm good."

"Ok," Patterson nodded, stepping back towards the room and stopping abruptly.

"She doesn't mean anything by it," Patterson said, turning back around to face him, "she just hates feeling like she needs other people. She is stubbornly independent and… well… stubborn."

"I understand, ma'am," Weller smiled politely, "no harm done."

A few hours later, almost towards the end of his shift— which had gone without a hitch— the elevator doors on their floor opened and a sharply dressed, clean shaven, man walked out. Kurt glanced at him and then watched as he made his way down the in his direction.

Inside the suite, the three women were putting the final notes on next morning's first speech when a sudden ruckus pulled their attention away from it. They couldn't tell exactly what was being said but it was clearly coming from outside their door.

Alice jumped up, making her way to the door and quickly opening it.

"What's going on?" She cried out when she saw Weller pinning a man— clearly smaller in size than him— to the wall outside her door—

And then she realized who the man was. "Oliver?" She said in bewilderment, "what are you doing here?"

"You know this man?" Weller asked, still not loosening his hold on him.

"Yes, I do," Alice scolded, "get off of him."

Weller gave her a stern look— then an equally menacing one towards the man— then finally stepped back, but still blocked him from approaching Alice.

"What the hell, agent?" She hissed at him.

"He refused to identify himself. He refused to cooperate and insisted—"

"So you slammed him into the wall?" Alice pushed past him and towards Oliver.

"He wasn't cleared. Wasn't vetted," Weller explained, "you gave us a list of names you expected to visit you. He wasn't on it."

Alice looked at Oliver and he gave her shrug. "I thought I'd surprise you," he said.

"You know we can't have that, Ms. Kruger—"

Alice glared at Weller, anger flaring— and a for a moment they both shared a challenging stare— tensions rising.

And then she broke it, Turing towards Oliver, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him a searing kiss.

"It's so good to see you," she whispered breathlessly against his lips when she pulled back and he stared at her— equal parts turned on and shocked.

She then turned back around— catching Weller's challenging gaze with hers— and she took Oliver's hand and led him towards the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**AN: **A little bit of a retcon coming up. In chapter 1, Alice's mom calls her Alice but I'm going to have to undo that because I want to add the detail that her parents, like Ian, call her Jane. So lease excuse that little mistake. Let's pretend it didn't happen, k? Thanks! And thanks for everyone who has been reading, reviewing, commenting, etc… hope you guys are enjoying this little fic.

* * *

Kurt watched them disappear into the room— his hands in fists by his side— and fought hard against punching a hole in the wall in front of him.

"I'm… I'm just gonna take my book and read in the lounge over there," it was Afreen who broke the tense silence, fidgeting nervously as she looked between Patterson, the suite door and Weller.

"Is… is that ok, Agent Weller?" She stuttered, "I'll be right there," she pointed to the small lounge down the hall, "you can still see me—"

"Yeah, sure," Kurt huffed, "it's fine."

He turned around and managed a calm nod— despite the anger still flaring through him.

"Agent Weller—" Patterson started to say, trying to find the words to diffuse the situation.

"We have these rules for a legitimate reason," Weller said, "it might be inconvenient at times and yes it will feel suffocating at time, but you came to us and asked for protection. If she's not gonna let me do my job—"

"I know," Patterson said, raising her hands up calmly, "you're absolutely right. This was—"

"Ms. Patterson," Kurt said, "she needs to understand I'm not the enemy here."

"She does," Patterson said, and off of Kurt's look she added, "I'll talk to her."

Kurt took a deep breath and straightened, his hands finally loosening, and he threw a glance towards the door. "Why wasn't her boyfriend on the list?" He asked Patterson.

Patterson looked at him, quiet for a moment, her mind clearly racing to find the right answer. She look back at the door and then towards her feet.

"Olive is… he's not… I mean…" she stuttered, something rare for Patterson, "Alice and Oliver aren't… well I guess what I'm trying to say is… I didn't know he'd be in town and I didn't know they'd get in touch or that he'd show up… that's why he's not on the list."

Kurt considered that for a moment. He still wasn't sure what Patterson was trying to tell him, and it didn't make the nature of Alice and Oliver's relationship any clearer, but he could sense that it was making Patterson uncomfortable. So he decided if anything he would pick it up with Alice later. For now he just needed more information on Oliver to run a proper background check.

"Can I at least have his full name? I am going to have to clear him—"

"Of course," Patterson nodded, "his name's Oliver Kind. He has an NGO—"

"Just his name is enough," Kurt smiled politely as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen.

"Zapata," he started to send a voice message, "I need you to run a background check on an Oliver Kind. He's Ms. Kruger's boyfriend—"

"He's not her—"

"He's an acquaintance or Ms. Kruger," Kurt corrected himself, "send me everything you get on him asap."

He looked back at Patterson and she gave him a sheepish look. "Trust me," she shook her head, "if I knew I would tell you… but I'm not sure she even know what she and Oliver are."

"Fair enough," Kurt replied.

"So… can I get you a coffee?" She asked him, "because I'm not going back in there for a while and I'm assuming you aren't gonna let me just go for a walk."

"No, I'm not, ma'am," he replied apologetically, "and I'll take that coffee."

"Good," she smiled and headed towards the lounge where the complementary coffee station was, "and please, can you just call me Patterson?"

"Patterson? Not Wil—"

"No! Patterson!" She interrupted vehemently, "just _Patterson."_

* * *

Patterson sat on the floor of the hallway, her phone in one hand as she played some game on it and her coffee next to her. Kurt still stood next to her, his coffee in hand and eyes glued to the door. They chatted a bit, with Kurt mostly asking Patterson about their work, taking genuine interest in what they do. The conversation flowed comfortably between them. And when they were silent, it was a comfortable silence. Kurt was honestly surprised by that. It wasn't something that came easily to him, but he found himself enjoying Patterson's company.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked as he looked down at her.

"Of course," Patterson replied.

"You're American," he said and Patterson chuckled.

"Excellent observation, Agent Weller," Patterson teased and he smiled and shook her head.

"No, I mean… how did you end up becoming best friends with Alice Kruger?" He asked.

He had read her file, and while it wasn't as extensive as Alice's, he did know the major things about her.

Her father got a teaching job at the University of Capetown shortly after the end of Apartheid when Patterson was about seven years old. The family moved there and stayed there. Even now, after her father's retirement, they are still based there. But Kurt was more interested in how and when Alice and Patterson crossed paths.

"Because I was a creepy stalker," Patterson smirked.

"Excuse me?"

Patterson laughed. "I was in third grade and we had to write a report about someone we admire," Patterson said, "everyone else went for the usual roster that you'd think of. My hero? Alice's mother, Mary, and I wanted to write a paper about her."

"And of course, I insisted on interviewing her and not just rely on articles and interviews other people conducted," Patterson explained, "so my mom through some mutual friends managed to set it up. I did the interview and met Alice at their home… and we've been best friends since."

Patterson shook her head and smiled. "I even convinced my parents to transfer me to her school the next year," she said, "to be honest, it was a much better school. I did myself a favor."

* * *

The next morning, Alice sat on the edge of her bed, tying the laces on her running shoes and she silently hoped that Agent Weller had't returned yet. When Oliver left last night, it had been Agents Reade and Zapata outside the room. She learned that they had relieved Weller from his shift for the night and that he would return in the morning.

She hoped Weller's definition of morning was closer to eight because that meant she could go out for her run and come back before he showed up. She was pretty sure he would not allow her to go out, and that would lead them to go into another round of arguing. She was pretty confident she could handle the other two agents though.

She quietly made her way from her bedroom towards the front door, making sure not to wake either Patterson or Afreen. And when she carefully cracked the door open, she was disappointed to find _him_ standing there.

"Don't you sleep?" She groaned as she closed the door behind her and crossed her arms.

"I could say the same thing about you," he retorted, and she ignored him and just threw a disapproving glare towards Zapata and Reade.

"And why are they here, too?" She mumbled.

"You only do shifts during the evening," Kurt said, "during the day, you have the full team."

"Yay me," she said and turned back to look at him.

"I'm going for a run," she said plainly, "out there. On the streets."

"I'm afraid that is not possible," Kurt replied calmly.

"You're gonna stop me from going on my morning run, Agent Weller?" She replied.

"I'm not," he said, "the weather is. I assume you haven't looked outside, but it's pouring."

"So you're saying that if it is not raining, you'd allow it?" She challenged and he shook his head.

"No, ma'am," he said, "I wouldn't. This hotel does in fact have one of the best gyms in town," he added, "you can have your morning run on one of their top of the line treadmills."

Alice squared her jaw and considered this for a moment.

"Fine," she said, "I'll go to the gym. But only because it's raining and not because your rules demand that."

"Very well," Kurt said, "let's go."

"Excuse me?" Alice frowned, "you're coming with me?"

"Of course I am," Kurt replied, "you didn't think I was letting you out of my sight, did you?"

"How foolish of me," she mumbled, "so you're just gonna stand next to me in your suit as I run?"

"Well, if you don't like the suit, I do have my gym bag in the car," he smirked, "I can join you and run on the treadmill next to you instead of just stand there."

"I'm not sure you can keep up," Alice rolled her eyes and walked past him, heading straight to the elevator.

Behind her Kurt sighed and pulled his keys out of his pockets and tossed them to Reade. "You mind grabbing my bag from the car?"

Reade and Zapata shared a look and she smirked. "Sure," Reade replied.

* * *

The gym was still relatively empty at his hour of the morning. One or two other people had started their day early and once they waked in, Kurt made sure to lead them towards the treadmills that were deepest into the gym. He strategically threw the towel he had picked up by the entrance on the one closest to the door and signaled for her to take the one next to it.

"Are you sure you don't want to check it out first? Maybe it's wired to explode when I get on it?" Alice said as she stood on it and started tapping on the screen.

"I think you're good," Kurt said as he got onto his— having already changed into his gym clothes.

Alice ignored him. With the setting to her liking, she started off with a slow jog and immediately placed her earphones in, playing the music loud enough for him to hear— a clear message that she was not going to be in the mood to chat.

He watched her for a moment— mesmerized despite himself— as she took the speed up every few moments, her eyes steel focused ahead of her, and her form especially good. He shook his head, bringing his own focus back to the task at hand and set up his own treadmill, quickly finding the right pace and matching hers.

For a few minutes, they just ran in silence, each focused on their own pace, their own increasing heart rate and not missing the unspoken challenge that was starting to develop between them— she she increased her pace, so did he, and then he would increase the incline and she would immediately do the same— both refusing to be outdone by the other.

After a few minutes, he glanced over at her.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice slightly raised so she could hear him through the music— or at least notice that he was trying to talk to her.

She looked at him, acknowledging that she'd heard him say something but with a knotted brow. He pointed to her earphones and she reluctantly pulled one out.

"I just wanted to apologize to the way I handled the situation with Mr. Kind last night," he said.

Alice gave him a long studious look and then nodded. "Ok," her answer was short and abrupt, and with it she put the ear phone back in and went back to looking straight ahead.

They were both seating profusely, their breathing heavy and both clearly having reached their limit— but neither one of them was going to be the first to stop. Instead, Alice just slowed down for a moment and removed her earphone once again.

"I read your file, Agent Weller," she said smugly, "this assignment seems a bit of a step down for you. You're usually a babysitter. Did you get demoted?"

She kept her eyes on him, watching him closely, waiting for her words to get a reaction from him— once again taking this challenge between them to a personal place to see how far she could get.

And she was still not sure why she was even doing it. She ignored the part of her brain that reprimanded her— the part that sounded very much like her mother— and focused on that which was enjoying goading him.

"I haven't been demoted," he said without turning to look at her, without missing a beat in his run and keeping his pace up.

She clenched her jaw. That was supposed to get something from him. Surely someone like him wouldn't like the idea of someone prying into his personal life, someone invading his privacy.

"Are you being punished, then?" She said, taking her speed down to a jog and waited as he flicked his own screen and slowed down— slow enough to turn slightly sideways to look at her.

"Do you consider keeping you alive a punishment?" He asked.

"I just think there has to be something more because you're usually the guy who leads the charge against terrorist attacks. You're the guy who takes down drug cartels and rescue victims of human trafficking," she said, her pace now matching his— somewhere around a brisk walk, "you're not the guy who stands outside the hotel door of a woman while she watches romcoms inside with her friends all night."

"You're watching romcoms all night?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

She smirked, turning away from him and using her towel to dry her brow.

"No," she said, "I was having mind blowing sex all night."

And that was it. He snatched his own towel off the hand bar and ended his workout, not waiting for the treadmill to completely stop before he stepped off. "We should head back," he said, "your first meeting's at eight."

She kept her back to him, finishing the last few strides before she slowed down to a stop and walked off with her towel slung over her shoulder.

* * *

Their first day in New York was full of commitments, and most of them were not yet dealing with Odan and Kambezi. Alice's work and the organizations and charities she ran went farther and broader than that one deal. And on that first day, most of the events and meetings they had scheduled were related to their work with children— from building schools in impoverished communities and villages, to getting running and clean water to communities, to protecting abused children and children in war zones.

Kurt and the team were with them the whole day, never leaving their side, but as promised, they did not stand in their way or make their presence felt or destructive. Instead, they got to stand at the sidelines and finally see Alice, Patterson and Afreen do what they do and shine at it.

Alice was at the center of each of these events and meetings. She ran the majority of them and those that she wasn't heading, she still managed to steal with her presence, her talks, her input, and her intellect.

Weller, Zapata and Reade were standing just off stage as Alice participated in a panel on domestic abuse. While Reade and Weller had their concentration on the discussion on stage, Zapata watched Weller instead. She noticed as his fists balled by his side as one video played on screen and she shifted closer to him.

"Are you ok?" She whispered quietly, keeping her eyes on him.

He nodded tensely, his jaw clenching, and he blinked. "I'm fine," he replied quietly.

"It's ok if you need to step out during this," she told him calmly.

He closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head and then turned to look at her briefly. "Thank you, Zapata," he said, "but really, I'm fine… just…"

"It reminds you of—"

"It does," he choked, "but at least there's someone out there looking out for them…"

"Someone like Alice Kruger," Zapata said.

Yeah… she's… the work they're doing is just… it's incredible," Kurt said, "protecting all the women and children…"

* * *

The day was a long one, and after covering the first half of the night shift— without any incidents with Alice or anyone else— Kurt got into his car, the case files on the seat next to him, and drove off to meet with an old friend.

Well, friend wasn't exactly the right word. In fact, the reason he knows this person was because Kurt had arrested him about five years ago. Then again three years ago. And after that, Kurt had found he had broke into his apartment while Kurt was at work and had eaten all his food and drank all his alcohol.

But Rich Dot Com had cleaned up his act since. And even though he had received an offer to take up a consultant position at the FBI— realizing they were better off putting his skills to their benefit than continuing to run after him— he had chosen to remain freelance.

He no longer played on the wrong side of the law— even though he still sometimes got to things using slightly shady methods— and he had become a trusted go-to off the books consultant for Agent Weller.

"Oh, Kurt, just in time!" Rich announced as he opened his door to his guest, "I could really use some feedback!"

"Feedback on what?" Kurt walked in nervously. He never knew what to expect when he saw or talked to Rich. One thing he could take for granted was that he would leave more confused than he walked in, strangely amused and often appalled by the lengths to which the man would go to make inappropriate comments and remarks.

"On this!" Rich led Kurt into his living room and revealed a… Kurt really couldn't identify what he was looking at.

"Is this one of Boston's latest art installations?" Kurt shrugged.

"What? No, Boston has nothing to do with this," Rich replied, "this beauty is all my work."

"I know I'm gonna regret asking but… what is this, Rich?" Kurt asked.

"It's my Halloween costume," Rich explained.

"Halloween isn't for eight more months," Kurt said.

"I know… I am so late but I think I can pull something off—"

"Late?"

"I usually start working on my costume on New Year's Day, but this year I was busy with… doesn't matter… so what do you think?" Rich rambled.

"What is it?" Kurt stared at it in confusion.

"It's my interpretation of the Battle of the Somme," Rich said.

"I'm sorry… what?"

"Battle of the Somme? World War 1—"

"I know what the battle— look, Rich, I'd love to hang out and discuss this but I'm actually here about a case," Kurt said.

"Rain check on your feedback on my costume?"

"Yeah, sure," Kurt sighed, and handed Rich the folder, "I need you to find out who's been sending the death threats to Ms. Kruger—"

"Is she hot?" Rich interrupted.

"I'm sorry?"

"Alice Kruger," Rich replied, "I mean I've seen pictures and videos and she does look hot in them but she might be one of those who photograph really well but then in real life.. meh."

"She… I mean… Rich! Someone's trying to kill her," Kurt reprimanded, "can we focus on that?"

"So she's super hot, then," Rich winked, "gotcha."

"What—"

"The FBI isn't on the case of tracking the threats," Rich poked Kurt's shoulder, "so this has to be aa Kurt Weller side project. So you have to be doing this because she's hot."

"You're hopeless," Kurt laughed and then walked back towards the front door, "just get to the bottom of this, ok?"

"Anything for you, Stubbles," Rich smirked.

"Oh, and it looks more like the Battle of Verdun than the Somme," Kurt added as he closed the door behind him.

"What?! No!"

* * *

Patterson was someone who could never sleep through any kind of noise or light— no matter how dim the light or faint the noise. So when the phone in the other bedroom wouldn't stop buzzing as it vibrated with a fourth call in a row. She pulled the mask off her eyes and squinted to look at the clock by her bed. It was just after midnight. She got up and padded out of the room towards Alice's. Quietly, she cracked open the door and whispered.

"Alice? Are you gonna get that?" She rubbed her eyes and yawn, "it's been raining nonstop."

But she got no reply.

"Alice?" She slowly walked in towards the bed, noticing the phone on the nightstand, "Alice—"

And that was when she noticed the bed was empty.

Not allowing herself to panic, she stepped towards the living area and flicked on a side lamp. But Alice wasn't there. She took in a deep breath and went towards the door— hoping very much that Agent Weller had ended his shift— and to her luck, he had.

"Agent Zapata. Agent Reade," she said as she looked between the two upon opening the door.

"Ms. Patterson? Everything ok?" Reade asked.

"Yeah, yeah," she tried to act casually, leaning against the door frame, "it's just that… you guys haven't… erm… you haven't seen Alice in the last hour or so… have you?"

"She;'s not inside?"

"No…" Patterson said.

"Are you sure?" Reade asked as he and Zapata rushed past Patterson into the room.

"Call the office and have them tack her phone," Reade said as he and Zapata searched every room, looking for any clue as to Alice's whereabouts.

"Her phone is here," Patterson said, "she must've left it—"

"Or whoever took her—"

"I don't think anyone took her," Zapata said, "her pajamas are on the bed. And there are a few hangers on the bed."

"She got up and dressed and left? But how—"

"I snuck out," Alice's voice's interrupted them.

They all turned around to find her standing in the doorframe.

"You what?" Patterson scolded.

"How?"

"About an hour ago… the young bell boy who tripped and fell? You two went to help him—"

"We looked away for barely a minute—"

"Enough time for me to open the door and get out," Alice interrupted Reade.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Zapata scolded her, walking up to her and ignoring the way Alice rolled her eyes.

"I couldn't sleep," Alice said, "I went downstairs and grabbed a drink."

"Ms. Kruger, you can't—"

"Nothing happened to me!"

"But something could've!" Patterson snapped, "you can't do this, Alice. You can't pay off bell boys to fake an accident and sneak out on the agents! They can;'t protect you if—"

Alice sighed heavily and dropped her head back. "I know, I know," Alice grumbled, "I didn't think—"

"Yeah, you didn't think—"

"Hey! Look, I get it," Alice moved past them all towards her bedroom, "I'm guessing I'm gonna get lectured tomorrow morning by Agent Weller, so you can all save your breath, ok? I'm going to bed!"

* * *

"What do you want to do about it?" Reade asked Weller nervously, shooting Tasha a quick look.

They had updated him on the phone immediately after the incident happened and he told them he would handle it in the morning, urging them to be more diligent the rest of the night. Fortunately, nothing else had happened.

Kurt leaned back against the wall and dropped his head back.

"Don't worry," he said, "I'll handle it."

"And Mayfair?" Reade asked, "should we—"

"I'll also handle Mayfair," he replied.

"We're really sorry that happened on our watch, Weller," Zapata apologized.

Kurt shook his head. "It's fine," he said, "these things happen and she's apparently… crafty."

He pushed himself off the wall and smiled. "Let's just be grateful nothing happened and be more careful from now on," he said as he walked towards the door.

* * *

Alice sat on the couch, with her laptop and all the paperwork for the day's events. She could hear the agents talking outside the door and braced herself for Weller walking in. The daily routine meant the two of them had to spend the morning going over the itinerary any possible changes that needed to be made, alternative plans in things things change during the day and organize everything that needed to be organized.

But what Alice was bracing herself for was the inevitable earful— the reprimand— from Kurt Weller for the stunt she pulled the previous night.

But she had needed that. She needed to be alone. She had just read the news about the air raid in Idlib and she couldn't get through to Ian. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking of every single worst case scenario. And she needed to get out of that room.

"Morning, ma'am," Kurt's voice pulled her away from her thoughts and she looked up at him.

"Good morning, Agent Weller," she straightened and placed the laptop on the table in front of her.

He gave her a small nod and closed the gap to sit on the opposite end of the couch from her. "I believe you have the updated itinerary for today?" He said, "Patterson said—"

"Yeah, I got it," she said, "there are a few things we need to adjust still."

She looked at him and he moved closer so that he could look at her computer with her. She watched him for a moment as he just looked at the calendar on her screen. And she just waited. She waited for him to say something about last night. But he didn't. So she continued.

"A friend of mine at NYU asked me to come in and guest lecture in one of her classes at 11," she said, "Patterson is already working on postponing our 11.30 meeting."

"Ok, traffic shouldn't be problem going from the conference to that," Kurt nodded.

"We're also trying to visit the Grace House Shelter in Brooklyn—"

She was interrupted by Weller's phone buzzing with an incoming call. He turned to look at— they both did. The caller ID read _Sarah_ and Kurt ignored the call.

"You can get that if—"

"It's fine," he said, "let's go back to this."

She studied him for a moment. He seemed unnervingly calm. She had expected him to walk in fuming. She had expected him to start lecturing her endlessly about her her actions, about how she'd been reckless when they were just trying to keep her safe.

But he was calm, quiet and completely not furious.

And for some reason that bothered her— more than if he had walked in treating her like a child.

"Afreen is working with the shelter to see when we can drop by," she said, "once we her back we will let you know—"

His phone buzzed again. And once again she found herself turning to check it just as he did. This time the caller ID read _Brianna_ and he once again ignored it.

"If you need to—"

"I can call back," he shook his head, "about lunch… do you still have that lunch meeting or—"

This time his phone interrupted him and she rolled her eyes when she read the name— _Allie._

"Busy guy…" she mumbled under her breath and he shot her a sideways look.

Why did it bother her that he was getting calls from all these women—

And as if on queue, his phone rang again— _Rose._

Alice sat back on the couch and watched him send that call too to voice mail. "Wow," she whispered to herself and rolled her eyes.

"Make sure you email the updated itinerary to everyone please," he said as he stood up, "we should get going in half an hour."

She gave him a long look, her head tilted sideways, and she blindly clicked a few keys on her laptop.

"Sent," she said.

He gave her a nod and started walking towards the door— a couple of steps and then he stopped. "About last night," he said—

And at that, she crossed her arms over her chest. _Here it comes, _she thought for herself, _of course he left it till now. He wants the last word._

_—_"he's fine," Weller said.

She opened her mouth, ready to argue, but then it took her a moment to realize he was not reprimanding her.

"I'm sorry. What?" She said in confusion.

"Your brother," Weller said, "Ian… he's fine. He wasn't hurt in the raid. Neither were any of the kids he managed to get out."

She stared at him— silently— shocked— and watched him leave.

"Thirty minutes," he said as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

Things during the day ran smoothly— better than they could hope for— and once again Alice them all in awe.

"When she's in her element, she's so inspiring," Tasha whispered as they watched her with the kids at the shelter."

"It's all the other times that she's a pain in the—"

Reade held his tongue when he saw the way Weller was glaring at him.

The last even of the day was a visit to the children's museum and it was during that even that Kurt was caught off guard with a welcome surprise— unexpected but welcome. Reade and Zapata had gone with Afreen and Patterson to set up with the museum's technical team and Kurt was accompanying Alice through the attendees towards the front of the hall.

"Daddy!" The voice of his two year old made him stop in his tracks as they were walking through the small gathering and he turned around to see Allie and Bethany behind him.

"Allie? What're you guys—"

"We thought we'd surprise you," Allie said with a smile.

"'Prise, Daddy," the toddler cheered and Kurt's lips drew into a wide smile. He took a step towards them and then stopped and turned back around to look at Alice—

—who was watching him with a very quizzical look.

For a moment, he just looked back and forth between Alice and Bethany and Allie— clearly conflicted as to how he should deal with this.

Any other personal interruption he would have ignored but Behtany—

Fortunately, he did not have to make a choice because Bethany had run up and crashed into him.

Alice gave him a small nod and he leaned down and picked up his daughter.

"Hello, Bee," he said softly as he pulled her tighter and pressed a kiss to the side of her head, "I love this surprise."

The little girls wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled when he kissed her cheek. "Daddy stay?" Bethany asked.

Kurt shook his head regretfully. "Sorry, baby, daddy has to go to work," he said.

The little girl pouted and Kurt pressed another kiss to her cheek before he shifted her over to Allie. He once again looked towards Alice.

She was watching him closely, completely enthralled and equally confused by the sight in front of her.

"I'll talk to you later," he said to Allie, brushing his hand over his daughter's hair and moving back towards Alice.

"Sorry about that," he said before she could say anything, "it was unprofessional. It won't happen again."

* * *

"Why didn't your file on him say that Weller had a wife and daughter?" Alice asked Patterson as they walked into the suite after their long day.

"Weller has what?" Afreen asked. She had an amused smile on her face as she dropped her things and flopped onto the couch.

"Weller isn't married," Patterson said as she grabbed a coke from the fridge.

"He does," Alice said, "I just witnessed the adorable family reunion." She kicked off her heels and put her feet up on the coffee table.

"What? How? When?" Afreen asked.

"When you guys were with the tech team," Alice said, "there was this gorgeous woman and a blond little toddler who looks exactly like him. She called him daddy and ran into his arms."

"The gorgeous woman?" Patterson teased.

Alice rolled her eyes and threw a cushion at her. "The toddler," Alice said, "Bee I think he called her. And her mother her name is Allie."

"Hmmm," Patterson picked her phone up and touched the screen, "I'm almost 100% sure there was no mention of a daughter in his file… but I think I read the name of an… Allison? An ex girlfriend, I think."

"Ok, an ex makes sense," Afreen said, "becuase Weller _definitely_ doesn't strike me as the marrying type."

"Why not?" Patterson asked.

Afreen shrugged.

"Maybe because he's the kind of guy who gets calls from five different women before 8am," Alice mumbled.

"What are you talking about?" Patterson asked.

"Nothing," Alice replied, "so anything in that file of yours about a daughter?"

"Bethany Knight Weller," Patterson said, "you're right. He has a daughter. I cannot believe I missed that."

"So… Weller has a kid…" Afreen said, "I did not see that coming. How hot was he with the little girl?"

Alice rolled her eyes and got up. "I'm gonna take a shower."

* * *

It was not _that_ late but Patterson and Afreen ha already gone to bed. Alice stood by the door and looked out the peep hole. _Dammit, _she thought to herself, _why does Weller have to be on duty now._

She figured the trick with the tripping bell boy won't work two nights in a row— even though the kid had asked her if she wanted him to do it again tonight when Afreen had ordered room service earlier— _I guess ten dollars goes a long way, _Alice thought.

No, Alice had to think to something else. And she had her plan all set in place to orchestrate her escape tonight. She picked up the phone by the door and dialed the extension number to the phone in the lobby which was just far enough from where Weller stood to allow her to crack open the door and sneak out before he could turn back around.

She watched through the peep hole as Weller heard the phone ring and turn to look at it. He knew he wouldn't be picking up from the first time. So she did it again. And again.

And on the fourth attempt— with a raised eyebrow— he left his post and Alice made her escape.

* * *

She was almost three blocks away from the hotel when Alice felt like someone was following her. She tried not to look behind her, to continue her walk with the same pace and manner as she had been for the last couple of blocks.

She put her hands in her pockets, squared her shoulder and took the next turn.

And right then, she was sure she was being followed.

She was about to duck into the Starbucks to her left when his voice stopped her.

"Did you honestly think you could get away with it?"

"Goddammit, Weller!" She turned around to find herself face to face with her FBI bodyguard, "you followed me? Seriously?"

"What part of my job is to protect you don't you understand?" He said, his hands in his pockets and the smug on his face infuriating her.

"In that case, who's protecting the rest of my team?" Alice frowned, "do I need to remind you there are three of us?"

"Do you honestly believe I would leave them?" Kurt said, "Officer Blake from the NYPD is there."

"Where'd he come from?" Alice asked.

"He's been tagging along the whole time," Kurt said, "for emergencies just like this."

"You can't be serious," She sighed.

"I am just trying to keep you alive," he said.

"And I'm just trying to get a burger," Alice said, "is that a crime?"

"It wasn't the last time I checked," Kurt smiled, "will your boyfriend be joining you?"

Alice furrowed her brow. "My what?"

"Your boyfriend… Oliver? The guy you made out with in the middle of the hallway two days ago," Kurt said with a twitch in the corner of his mouth.

Alice shifted, turning away from him for a moment. "No, he's not," she said.

"Ok, then," Kurt said and came to stand next to her, "let's go get a burger."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4  
AN:** Two things- one thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing this fic. We're at the halfway line here so i hope you are still enjoying it. Two, I realize that a couple of you aren't big fans of Allie and/or Bee. If it makes any difference, they do not have a big presence in this story other than the fact that they exist. But for what it's worth i have to say that Allie is one of my favorite characters, not just on Blindspot, but in terms of any character on any show ever, so there's a good chance she will show up in everything I write. But she will never be a threat to Jeller, if that makes any difference.

* * *

"Is there somewhere specific you want to go to?" Kurt asked her as they started to walk.

Alice shrugged and looked awe him. "Not really," she replied, "you're know the city better than I do. Any good burger places a short walking distance from here?"

"Are you looking for something gourmet?" He asked, "or something very unhealthy greasy that comes with an unimaginably huge side of fries and more soda than you can drink?"

She chuckled at that, looking over at him with an amused smile, and said, "the second one."

He smiled back at her— an uncharacteristically sweet smile to match hers— and he nodded. "Then I know just the place," he said.

They walked in silence for another few blocks until the reached a little diner— the kind that you'd miss if you didn't know it was there. Kurt held the door open for her and as she tried to go for a booth by the window, he gently grabbed her elbow and moved her towards a table away from the glass.

"I'm still on duty," he smiled, "the priority is still keeping you alive."

She rolled her eyes, playfully , and sat down. "Don't you ever just take a break, Agent Weller?"

He smiled sheepishly and ducked his head. "Yes, I do, _ma'am,_" he added that last part teasingly and she cringed.

"Ugh, can you stop calling me that," she mumbled.

"What would you prefer call you?" He asked.

"Well… Alice works," she said, "if that's too casual for your uptight FBI standards, then what he hell, Miss Kruger would work."

"But not Jane?" He asked quietly.

She shot him a look. "Last time I checked, you weren't my mother," she said.

"No," he said, "I guess I'm not."

They fell into another silence as each of them checked the menu and gave the waitress their order. Kurt grabbed his phone and quickly updated his team on the location as Alice watched him closely.

"So you have a daughter," she said as he put his phone back down.

He looked up at her, a blank look on his face for a moment and then he nodded. "I do," he replied simply.

"You and her mother—"

"Dated for a while a few years ago," he said as he took a sip of his coke, "it didn't work out between us. But we had Bethany and we remain best friends… so I guess you could say it did work out in some ways."

"Allie, right?" She asked and he nodded.

"That explains her," Alice mumbled with the straw of her drink in mouth.

"Excuse me?"

Alice thought about her next question carefully— she knew there was a chance she could be stepping way out of line but being blunt and going after what she wants was a part of who she was— "it's just that… the calls you got—"

"I don't see how I owe you any explanation," Kurt said.

"I know you don't," she replied, "but I just like to know more about the man who I am trusting my life with."

"I thought you said that you read my file," Kurt said.

"I did," Alice admitted, "but believe it or not, it's hard to dig up a lot of information on FBI agents. You guys are pretty good." She smiled softly, hoping to show him that she meant no malice in her question, just honest curiosity.

Kurt considered her question for a moment and then took another sip of his drink. "Do I get one in return?" He asked.

She slowly nodded. "Sure," she replied.

"Ok, then," he said, "Sarah's my sister. Rose is Agent Emily Rose. She's one of the agents at the NYO. And Brianna is Assistant Director Mayfair's assistant," he explained.

Alice looked down, slightly blushed at her prior assumptions about the women who had called him that morning. She thought for a long moment, knowing that the moment she looks back up he was going to ask her the personal question he had bartered into this exchange. So she tried to beat him to it. "Assistant Director _Bethany_ Mayfair, right? You named your daughter after your boss?" She asked.

She looked up at him and he had an amused smirk on his face. He shook his head. "That's not how this conversation is going to go, Miss Kruger," he said, "you have to answer _my _question first before you get another."

Alice took a deep breath and then sighed. "Fair enough," she said, "let's have it."

"I think you know what I'm going to ask," he replied.

She shook her head and chuckled lightly. "I guess I walked right into this one, didn't I?" She said.

"You kinda did," he smirked.

"Fine," she said, and then sat back as the waitress brought their orders. They silently waited as she placed the obnoxiously large orders in front of them and then thanked her as she walked away. They looked at their plates for a moment and then Alice looked back up at him.

"Oliver and I are… we're not exactly… I mean… we see each other a couple of times a year," she said, "he's busy with his charities. I'm busy with mine. We occasionally cross paths during different events… we get together… we enjoy each other's company… and then we go our separate ways."

Kurt nodded, watching her closely as she explained. "He's a perfectly nice guy," Alice found herself adding— completely unprovoked by Weller— "but we've never gotten to a point where either one of us wanted to take it anywhere else."

He was quiet for a moment and then, when she looked back at him, he just smiled and nodded.

They were quiet again, each starting to work their way around their plate. Alice lifted the top bun of her burger and picked out the pickles.

"You could've asked her to keep the pickles off," he said as he watched her.

She looked at him and smiled. "I like the flavor the pickles leave but I don't like to actually eat them," she said, making a little face that made him chuckle.

"Well, in that case," he reached across the table and picked the pickles up with his fork, "more for me."

There were a couple of extra tomato slices on the side of the plate, touching his fries, and Kurt grumbled. "Could've used without the extra tomatoes," he mumbled as he tried to push them away from his fries.

"Well I suppose it's gonna be a fair trade, then," Alice chimed in as she reached across the table to take the extra tomatoes off his plate.

"I guess it is," Kurt replied.

They started eating before Alice brought her question back up. "So… Bethany Mayfair… you named your daughter Bethany?" She asked.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah," he replied softly, "I owe Bethany Mayfair… _everything."_

He grabbed a few fries, eating them slowly, before he volunteered more information— without her even prying. "I was getting in a lot of trouble by the time I was fifteen," he said, "we'd moved to New York a few years earlier and I wasn't in a great place. We'd moved here from Clearfield- a small town in Pennsylvania— with my mom after—"

"You don't have to tell me," Alice found herself saying when she saw the distress on his face.

He shook his head— though it did nothing to remove the frown— and then swallowed.

"My father wasn't a great guy. He drank a lot and he had quite the temper," Kurt said, "he'd get drunk a lot and when he got drunk, he got abusive."

Alice gasped audibly. Her gaze softened as she watched him closely— suddenly the big tough FBI agent looked a lot like the many victims she worked with on a daily basis. "He hit you?" She whispered.

"For a while," Kurt said, "but then I got big enough to hit him back… my mother and sister weren't as lucky. I tried… I tried to protect them when I was at home but—"

"You couldn't be there all the time," Alice said and Kurt nodded.

"I came home from school one day— he was supposed to be at work but I guess he decided to come home early and start drinking before lunch— and my mom was—"

She unconsciously reached for him, brushing her hand over his. "He was too drunk to even notice I was there and… I was thirteen. I carried my mom to the car and drove her to the hospital… and then the cops showed up," Kurt swallowed back, "the bastard drank himself to death six months later. My mom spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair."

The silence was heavy then. The pain of the memories taking over Kurt and Alice squeezed his hand. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Kurt looked up at her, sadly, and gave her a grateful nod. "If it weren't for Mayfair, I don't know where I'd be right now," he said, "she helped overcome that, she helped me through some dark times and got me to do something good with my life."

Alice smiled and nodded. "And you do," she said, "I've read about some of the cases you've worked on…"

"Thank you," Kurt said and then slowly pulled his hand back.

They went back to silently eating their food before Alice spoke again.

"It's your turn, by the way," she said, smiling softly, "to ask me a question."

Kurt looked at her and considered her offer for a moment. "I don't know…" he said, managing to smile a little bit as the weight of the previous admission started to lift, "the FBI didn't exactly have that much trouble getting all the background information on you as you did with me."

He chuckled slightly and she laughed. "Touché, Agent Weller," she said, "in that case can I ask you something? Professional not personal."

"Sure," Kurt replied.

"Have you heard anything about Ian?" She asked nervously.

"Yes," he replied, "he's crossed the border into Turkey along with the seven kids he rescued from the military compound."

"Are they all ok?" She asked.

"Relatively speaking," Kurt said sadly, "there are no major injuries but… I guess they've got a long road ahead of them before they can really be okay."

Alice nodded. "Yeah," she whispered, "if ever."

"Yeah," Kurt nodded, "but… what you guys do… you and your brother… it's just absolutely… amazing. All these people you help… from all these unspeakable situations and places… It's inspiring."

Alice blushed slightly and smiled. "When we were kids, after the Apartheid ended, my parents uncovered this secret government project," she spoke slowly, "they were training children to be super soldier. They'd taken in orphans, homeless children, stole kids from their families and had them in these… Godforsaken camps. _Orphanages. _And when the program was exposed and shut down… there were so many kids… some were immediately placed in homes and taken in by actual orphanages but some were… damaged beyond repair. We were kids ourselves but my parents made sure they didn't hide this from us and it was just so terrifying and heartbreaking and I knew back then that I couldn't live in a world that allowed children to go through anything like that."

"But apparently, it seems that no matter how much you try, there are still monsters out there who won't stop," she whispered.

"It's a good thing you're not stopping either," he said to her. When she looked at him, she found him watching her fondly— as if in awe of her— and she blushed again.

"I guess we aren't that different after all," she smiled.

"I guess we're not," he replied gently.

They fell back into a comfortable silence as they each finished off their food. Alice's phone started ringing and she pulled it out of her jacket pocket.

"It's my mom," she said, "I need to get that."

"Of course," Kurt replied and watched as she touched the screen and got up. She knew not to get too far so she just stepped away towards the next table over and Kurt watched her for a moment before going back and finishing the rest of his food.

He thought back to their conversation for a moment, turning around in his seat to look out towards the sidewalk outside the diner.

And his timing could not have been more perfect as his gaze fell on the man standing right ousted the diner. He had a cap on that shaded his face so Kurt could not make out his features. But what he could make out was that he was reaching into his jacket and he was looking straight at Alice.

Kurt leapt from his seat. "Alice! Get down!"

He tackled her grabbing her by the waist and taking both down to the ground.

But not before the bullet was fired, shattering the diner's glass window and zipping through the air towards her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5  
AN: **Sorry in the delay in updating. I promise to be better from now on. I hope you guys are still interested in this fic. This chapter was supposed to be longer but I ended up splitting it in half because I decided the second half deserves its own chapter... you'll see why. Enjoy!

* * *

Everything happened so quickly. One moment, Alice was talking to her mother on phone, listening to her as she complained about how her dad is refusing to cut the sugar out of his diet despite what the doctor had told him— a story about him sneaking in chocolate bars while hiding in the basement— and another moment, Agent Weller is yelling her name. Before she had time to turn to look at him, his body was slamming into hers and dropping her to the ground.

There was the sound of glass shattering, followed my chaos and screaming, and a faint voice saying her name. She blinked, trying to her her eyes to focus, straining to hear past the dining in her ears and the first thing she felt was a throbbing pain in her head and the weight pressing her down. Identifying the second came first when she realized that Agent Weller was still on top of her, looking at her in worry and repeating her name.

He hovered over her— aware of their position and the fact that his weight must be smothering her— but he couldn't move. His tackle hadn't been graceful, and the thud her head made against the stool as they made it to the ground as almost as loud as the shattering glass. It took her a moment to come to. He knew she hadn't been hit by the biller, but still, in that moment before her eyes started to flutter open, he had held his breath.

"Alice? Alice?" He said, his voice low but firm. His concentration on her but also beginning to assess the situation and plan his next move.

She blinked nervously, her eyes darting around for a moment before they found his and focused. "Alice," he breathed in relief. And when she opened her mouth to reply, all she managed was a groan of pain.

He was holding most of his weight on his elbows so he shifted onto one and brought his hand to the back of her head, brushing his fingers there gently. She hissed in pain and he whispered an apology and then sighed in relief when he found no traces of blood.

"What— what happened?" She groaned and he started to push himself off her.

"There was a gunman," he said, grabbing one of her elbows and resting his other hand on her waist as he slowly started to help her up, "he took a shot but missed. You hit your head when I tackled you. Sorry."

She blinked rapidly as she looked around her. The diner was a mess. The front window was shattered in pieces. The two waitresses and the manager were hiding behind the counter and the two other people who'd been there were crouching in a corner. Out on the street there was chaos.

Luckily, there were two cops already approaching the scene.

Kurt gave her one last look of concern and then grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side. "Officers," he called out to them, "Agent Kurt Weller. FBI." He showed them his badge and took one step towards the middle of the diner, still holding on to her hand and pulling her close to him.

He kept his body between her and the front of the place. She could feel the tension in his muscles as he stood in front of her and she watched him turn into a heightened version of the agent she'd seen him as before. She watched as he took absolute control of the situation.

He explained the situation to the officers, gave them a description of the man who'd taken the shot and gave them orders to manage the crime scene and issue a BOLO. He then immediately contacted the FBI and ordered a team to his location and briefed his supervisor. And then he began damage control at the diner.

He checked in on the the other customers and offered to personally pay for their dinner. And then he checked in on the waitresses and the manager.

"You're going to have to call the owner to come in," he told the young manager.

She nodded nervously. "Yeah, he's my dad, I already called him."

"That's good,"he said, "is there an office or a back room that you all can wait safely as we process this."

"Yes, of course," she confirmed and led the two waitresses and two customers in.

Kurt turned towards Alice, still holding her hand, "you should go wait in there as well. I'll have an officer guard the door to make sure—"

"No," she shook her head, "I mean... is it ok if I stay here with you?"

His gaze softened and he took a step back to look at her. The past half an hour had been intense and he just realized he hadn't checked in on her. He'd been just dragging her around with him and he gave orders and tried to control the situation.

"Are you ok?" He asked, his voice losing the sharp edge and dropping to a whisper only for her to hear.

She nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she whispered, and then a flash a vulnerability he hadn't seen from her flashed over her face, "I just feel safer here."

He reached for her, gently touching her elbow, and he nodded. "Ok," said, "just stay by my side."

Just then his phone rang.

"Weller," he answered it quickly after a brief glance at the caller id.

"You were right," Zapata said on the other end, "there were two guys trying to break into the room."

He'd called the team back at the hotel immediately and warned them that they could also be a target of a possible attack.

"We're taking them into the NYO now," she said.

"Good," he replied, "make sure you take Ms. Kruger's team to the NYO as well. It's the safest place for them now."

Alice's eyes widened at hearing her team being mentioned and she looked up at Weller, unconsciously reaching and grabbing his arm. "Patterson and Afreen?" She asked and Weller gave her a comforting look.

"Everyone's fine," he whispered.

"Ok, Zapata, keep me posted when you start interrogating them," he said, "thanks. You too."

"We should head back to the NYO," he said to Alice after he hung up, "it should—"

He was again interrupted by his phone ringing. He checked the caller ID and frowned.

"Mr. Talal? Is every—"

"Mr. Weller, I'm afraid I have some bad news," his landlord said.

"What is it?" Weller asked.

"There was an attempt to break into your apartment," the man on the other end said, "fortunately, they couldn't get in but they got away before we could stop them. You need to come in and—"

"I'm afraid I can't come home now, Mr. Talal," Weller sighed, "but don't worry. I'll send a team to take care of things. I hope there wasn't any damage to anyone—"

"Everyone is fine, Mr. Weller, don't you worry about us."

"Something's wrong," Weller muttered under his breath as he called the NYO.

"Do you think it's a coincidence?" Alice asked hopefully.

Kurt shook his head as he dialed Mayfair's number. He updated her on the situation and then dispatched security details for Allie and Bethany, for Sarah and Sawyer, and for Reade's family and Zapata's.

"Do you think they'll go after your families?" Alice asked him as he hung up.

"I don't know… but it's better to be safe," he told her, trying to ease her worry.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, "this is all my fault—"

He brushed her elbow again and she looked up at him. "No, don't," he said, "it's a risk we take on the job every day," he gave her a small smile, "now let's finish up here and head back to the NYO."

She looked at him for a mother moment before she looked around her and tried to make sense of it all. There were agents and police officers everywhere. The place was a mess and at the center of it all was Agent Weller. Not a single thing was happening without his command or his approval or his decision.

And at the same time, he had not stopped watching over her, checking in with her all the time, keeping her feeling safe and following up with the team back in the office.

"Ok," she replied and followed him as he walked over to who she assumed was the agent he was going to leave in charge.

"Sloan," he called to the agent who'd been part of the first team to arrive on site. The agent turned towards him and listened as he started listing what needs to be done.

Alice realized then that she hadn't checked her phone since all this started. It had fell from her when the bullets were fired and had been returned to her earlier but in the madness she'd just shoved it into her pocket. She pulled it out as Weller was finishing up with Agent Sloan and unlocked the screen. She had missed calls and messages from Afreen and Patterson. And more importantly, she had a dozen calls and voice messages from her parents.

"Shit," she whispered under her breath and immediately started to send a reply to her parents. She kept it brief and undetailed to keep them from getting worried. And then she caught up with Patterson and Afreen— sighing in relief when they confirmed they were safely at the FBI.

"Ready?" Weller asked as he walked over towards her. He'd finished handing things over to Sloan— the whole time keeping an eye on her— and she couldn't help but smile when she noticed he'd grabbed her jacket that shed completely forgotten shed been wearing when they came in.

She nodded and took the jacket from him. "Everything ok here?" She asked, "are you sure you can leave?"

"Yeah, Sloan has things under control," he said, "were you checking in with your team?"

"Yes, they're fine," she smiled gratefully, "thanks to _your_ team."

They had just gotten the FBI SUV when Weller's phone rang again.

"Weller!" Rich's voice basically bellowed through the car's sound system and Kurt knew it had to be serious because the hacker had used his name instead of a colorful nickname.

"What is it Rich?" Weller asked as he moved the car into the street.

"You've been compromised. All of you," Rich said.

"We've figured as much, Rich," Weller sighed.

"Oh my God! Are you ok?" Rich asked.

Weller looked at Alice and shrugged. "Never better," he said.

"I may have a lead on who's behind this," Rich said, "I just need to—"

"Meet us at the NYO," Weller said, already trying to figure out how to explain to Mayfair why he had Rich working on the case.

"Oh no," Rich replied, "I'm not wasting time going there and going through all the bureaucratic nonsense you people always put me through every time I try to help. This is time sensitive."

"Rich—"

"Don't Rich me, Weller," he said, "also my place is much safer and closer to you."

"How do you know where I am?" Weller frowned.

"You're focusing on the wrong thing, Stubbles," Rich huffed, "now stop wasting my time, I still need to decrypt a few files. Hurry and get here. I promise I'll have pants on when you get here."

"What?" Alice finally broke her own silence.

Weller rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I guess you're gonna be meeting Rich Dotcom tonight," he said.

"Who's that? And why does he have intel?"

"He's a… a consultant I sometimes work with," Weller explained as he made a right and changed his destination to Rich's instead of the office, "I had him dig into who could be coming after you. I know the FBI wasn't tasked with this but…"

"You couldn't just leave it alone?" Alice smiled.

"No, I couldn't"

"Should I be worried that there's a chance he won't have pants on?" Alice asked.

"Yeah… among other things," Weller said, "and I apologize in advance for… everything he is going to say and do."


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh, sweet Jesus, she's even hotter in person, Stubbles! Why didn't you tell me?"

Alice just stared at the bearded man who opened the door for them and Weller grumbled loudly.

"I'm sorry," the man then added, awkwardly trying to push his way past the FBI agent, and towards her, "that's no way to introduce myself. I'm Rich Dotcom. Kurt's partner and best friend. I'm sure he's told you everything about me already. And trust me. It's all true."

"You're neither of those things," Kurt moved Rich aside and stepped aside himself to allow Alice to walk in, "and seriously, Rich, its been a long night. So please... turn it down a notch."

"Turn what down?" Rich asked as he tilted his head sideways and watched Alice walk past him.

"Your Rich-ness," Kurt sighed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Rich smiled and walked in after Alice, "so you're Alice Kruger. It's an honor to meet you. I'm sorry our mutual friend is extra grumpy tonight."

"Well it has been a long night," Alice smiled politely, "but it's a pleasure to meet you Rich... Dotcom?"

"I lost a bet a few years ago," Rich shrugged, "but it grows on you. As do I."

Alice chuckled as she caught a glimpse of Kurt rolling his eyes.

"But yes, you two have had quite the evening," Rich added, "I took the liberty of laying down some clean clothes from my lost and found collection for you two in the guest bedroom if you want to clean up before we get into this."

"Your lost and found?" Alice glanced between Kurt and Rich. The agent seemed less shocked by the things that were coming out of Rich's mouth. He seemed more... annoyed and somewhat bored. She was starting to understand why Kurt apologized on their way over. Rich seemed like a... colorful character.

"Well you know... people come over. They have fun. They a few drinks. They have... well, let's just say they have some fun," he winked and gestures towards Kurt, "and sometimes people take their clothes off and forget them here. Sometimes they come back for them but other times they don't."

"We don't need to get changed now, Rich, we need to know who's behind this," Kurt sighed.

Rich wrinkled his nose and gave Kurt a long look. "Trust me, munchkin, you need to clean up and change. Don't get me wrong, you're a ten and will always be a ten, but this doesn't mean you can't use a little fixing after you get shot at."

Rich turned to Alice and smiled. "And you my dear are a spectacular specimen, but I'm sure you wouldn't mind a quick shower and a change of clothes," Rich said, "get that greasy diner smell off you and wash off that assassination attempt."

"How do you know—"

"Again, you're focusing on the wrong thing," Rich said, "like I said, I have a few files I'm still working on. So make it quick and when you're done I will have everything ready to blow your minds away with what I've discovered."

"That the prime minister of Odan is behind everything?"

"What? How did you—"

"That much was obvious from the get go," Kurt said, "so please tell me you have more than that."

Rich rolled his eyes and walked over to his computer station. "Yes, I have more, _asshole_," he mumbled, "I just need this final file to finish decrypting and I'll have everything for you."

Kurt gave Alice a quick look and then pulled his phone out. "Ok, then just let me check in with Mayfair and let her know what's happening," he said, "she's not gonna like it but if you give us something good, Rich, then maybe I won't spend the rest of my career behind a desk."

Rich smirked and Allie looked at Kurt worriedly. She walked over to him before he called his boss. "Are you really gonna get in trouble?" She asked him quietly.

He gave her a sweet smile and brushed her elbow. "I'll be fine," he reassured her, "as long as Rich comes through with this."

She returned his smile and nodded. "Will you be ok with Rich for a few minutes? I really am sorry for how he is," Kurt mumbled, "I know he's a pain but he's really good at what he does."

Alice chuckled and shook her head. "I can handle Rich," she said, "I've dealt with tyrannical world leaders. He's a piece of cake in comparison."

Alice grabbed a seat— away enough from Rich's computer station and with a view towards where Kurt was pacing the balcony talking to Mayfair— and she waited.

"I made pop corn," Rich's voice startled her and she jumped back slightly and then turned to find him standing next to him with a big bowl of pop corn, "it's extra cheddar flavor."

"I'm good," she smiled politely, "thank you."

Rich shrugged and sat down close enough to her. He threw a handful of pop corn into his mouth and for a moment just looked between Alice and Kurt.

"I don't know if I'm a fan of you as an Alice, if you don't mind me saying," Rich finally said.

Alice raised an eyebrow at him and decided to play along. Rich may be slightly annoying but he seemed harmless so far. And if Weller trusted him enough then she didn't see him as a threat.

"Why's that may I ask?" She sat back and crossed her arms.

"Well, it's awfully close to Kurt's ex's name— Allison— you do know he has a kid with her, right?" Rich eyed her curiously and Alice nodded.

"I do," she said, "Little Bee is actually adorable."

Rich threw another handful of pop corn in his mouth and then started talking again— while chewing.

"Anyway when you two fall in love it'll be weird that you and his ex have names that are so similar," Rich said.

Alice rolled her eyes at him and then shook her head.

"Agent Weller and I aren't falling in love," Alice said.

"Oh please," Rich sighed, "this has a perfect Hollywood romance written all over it. He's forced to work with you. You're forced to work with him. You butt heads. And argue. And fight. And do everything you can to get under each other's skin. Then you grow to respect what the other does. Then he saves your life. Then you save his. And then BAM! You fall madly in love!"

Alice shook her head again and chuckled. "You've got quite the imagination, Rich," she said, "and you're rather funny. Thanks. I needed a good laugh after everything that happened tonight."

"Laugh all you want, Stretch," Rich smirked, "you won't be laughing when I'm giving the best man speech at your wedding… or I mean… maybe you'd be laughing because it'll be your wedding day and my speech is going to be hilarious—"

Rich was interrupted by a beeping noise from his computer and he immediately jumped up and checked the screen.

"Stubbles! Come in here!" He called over his shoulder and gestured to Alice to join him.

"You got something?" Kurt said as he walked in.

"I think so," Rich said as he said down, "pull up a seat you two."

Kurt and Alice shared a look and then each grabbed a chair and pulled it close to Rich's computer station and sat down.

"So, you guessed it correctly, Weller," Rich said, "the person behind all this is the former PM of Odan who's currently awaiting trial. He really didn't like that you exposed his years of corruption and you know… murder."

Rich poked Alice's shoulder and winked. "Good job, by the way, Stretch," he added, "so, anyway… obviously he's locked up but this is what I've uncovered."

Rich suddenly got up and went to get the bowl of pop corn he'd left on the couch. He offered it to Weller. "Pop corn?"

"No, what? Rich, focus. Please!" Kurt sighed.

"Yeah, anyway," Rich placed the bowl in his lap, "have you ever heard of a site called Killer Deals?" Both Alice and Kurt shook their heads.

"You're both such straight shooters, it's adorable," Rich smirked, "Killer Deals is a site that poses as a shopping site offering great deals on everything from cotton balls to spare parts for car engines…. But… don't be fooled by the adorable site design—"

Rich quickly typed in an address into his browser and opened up the site that looked like an unassuming shopping site.

"Killer Deals is just that… a site to hire freelance killers," he said, "check this out. The PM's son has made these seemingly simple items over the past three weeks: a cap with the flag of South African flag on it, a New York City souvenir keychain, Kruger brand kitchen towels, a Murder She Wrote poster, and a number of other random things."

"Ok… what does that mean?" Weller asked.

"So, the first four items were flagged as Priority Purchases and well it doesn't take a genius to decode that," Rich said, "whoever made these purchases is hiring someone to murder the South African Kruger in New York City. The rest of the purchases are basically the rest of the payment."

"Are you sure?" Alice asked nervously.

"Yeah," Rich replied, "I hacked into the account that approved the purchases and went into their communications. It's definitely them. The contract is for Alice's life and a bonus for the rest of her team."

"Do you have an ID?" Weller asked.

"Not yet," Rich said apologetically, "but I think I can get an ID from the guy who took a shot at you earlier."

Weller shook his head. "The FBI hasn't been able to find him on any of the cameras in the area," Kurt said, "he managed to avoid all the cameras in the area. And I didn't get a clear look—"

Kurt shot Alice an apologetic look.

"I know," Rich said, "I gave it a shot myself. But… and you're not gonna like this, Weller…"

Rich clicked a few keys and opened up one of the street cam photos.

"Look at this," Rich said, "here's out guy." He pointed to the back of the head of a guy walking down the street."

"His face is not—"

"I know," Rich replied, "but look at the girl right… here."

Rich zoomed in on the photo to show a young woman taking a photo with her phone of two people. "She's taking a photo and our mystery man is in the background," Rich explained.

"How are we going to find the—"

Rich typed in a few things. "Some reverse image search of her face and I can find out who she is," Rich explained, "and… this is the part you won't like, Weller… I can identify who she is and… hack her phone and pull up the picture—"

"We can't do that, Rich," Weller shook his head, "absolutely not."

"But, Stubbles—"

"Send it all to the FBI. Identify the young woman, even, but do not hack her phone," Weller insisted and gave Alice an apologetic look, "it'll take a little bit longer but we will get that photo legally."

He reached towards Alice and brushed his hand over her knee. "I'm sorry, I know it's tempting to get an ID right now," he said, "but we cannot do it Rich's way. We're safe here for now. Your team are safe at the NYO…"

Alice nodded and gave him a small smile. "I understand," she replied.

Rich was watching them closely— Kurt's hand on her knee, her small smile— and he smirked. "I'll send everything to the NYO."

"Thank you, Rich," Kurt said, as he pulled his hand off Alice's knee, "and thank you. That's amazing work. Really."

"Don't mention, Stubbles," Rich said, "anything for you and Stretch."

Kurt shook his head and laughed. "Come on, let's get cleaned up," he said, "you don't mind us spending what's left of the night, right?"

"Mind? Please, I'm this close to locking you in," Rich said, "speaking of which, you have your cuffs on you, right?"

"Good night, Rich," Alice rolled her eyes and got up, starting to move towards where she assumed the bedrooms were.

The guest room in Rich's apartment was obviously designed to entertain. But fortunately, it wasn't as bad as Alice had feared. Yes, she'd let her imagination take her to some place a little more terrifying but as it turned out, it was actually rather nice. A big room— by any standard not just New York City apartment standards— with large windows that currently looked out onto the dark street, and a nice king sized bed in the middle. The rest of the furniture in the room was a little bit… extra, but nothing too inappropriate. There was a large modern painting on the wall— signed by a Boston Arliss Crabb— and a number of other smaller art pieces scattered around.

On the bed, Rich had placed a few items of clothing. Alice went straight for them, once again fearing the worst, but was pleasantly surprised that Rich had included a few sensible items— and a few very very inappropriate ones.

"He's quite a character," Alice chuckled.

Kurt chuckled and sat down on a small ottoman by the end of the bed. "That he is," he replied.

"You mind if I go in first?" Alice asked gesturing towards the en suite bathroom and holding a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"No, go ahead," Kurt replied as he kicked off his shoes.

Alice was in there for just a few minutes— much shorter than Weller had anticipated— and when she opened the door and stepped out, he didn't hear her do so. As she stepped out, he had his back to her, standing in front for the full length mirror across the room from the bathroom, and he'd taken his jacket and dress shirt off, and he had pulled his t-shirt up and was—

That's when Alice saw it— the red stain on his white shirt and she realized what it was he was checking in the mirror.

"You're hit?!"

Kurt jumped back slightly, letting his shirt drop back down, and turning around to face her. She'd crossed the room swiftly, her eyes focused on the stain on his shirt, and her face pale with worry.

"Just a graze," he replied, "it's just a graze."

"You took a bullet—"

"Alice," he said, "it's just a graze."

But she completely ignored him, dropping her clothes on the floor, and crossing over to stand right in front of him. She didn't think about what she was doing when she grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up. She eyed his injury nervously, her fingers hovering over it carefully, and she whispered, "how did I not notice? You've been hiding the fact that you're hit—"

How had she not noticed? She tried to think back to everything that had happened that evening, from the moment he called her name and tackled and every minute after that. How had he hid the fact that he was bleeding the whole time.

"Alice," Kurt repeated softly, his hand coming to cover hers where she grabbed his shirt tightly, "I'm fine. Really."

"Why didn't you say anything?" She whispered and finally looked up from his side to look at his face, "how could you—"

"Because it's nothing. Really," he untangled their hands from his shirt and let it drop to cover his would again, but did not let go of her hand, "the bullet just grazed me. It's basically a paper cut."

"Don't compare this to a paper cut!" She hissed at him, her chin trembling slightly, "you got shot and you didn't— I'm gonna see if Rich has a first aid kit… you should at least have it cleaned and bandaged."

"I'm fine—"

"No, you're not," she stared up at him and her chink trembled again. She held his gaze for a moment and then dropped her eyes back to the stain on his shirt and she felt herself get sick. He'd been hurt protecting her. He'd taken a bullet for her.

She took a shaky breath, stared at his injury for another moment, and then stepped back and out of the room. Kurt sighed as he watched her go. He'd known he'd been grazed the minute he'd grabbed her and pulled her down at the diner, but he also knew it was just a graze. It hadn't been hurting too bad— probably as a result of the adrenaline— and he hadn't realized just how much it had bled until he took his jacket off. He took a deep breath and pulled his shirt off, wondering if he could get away with sneaking in to the bathroom and getting it over with before Alice got back.

But then he saw a flash of her face when she'd rushed over towards him, how her chin had trembled as she took in the fact that he'd been hurt and the way she'd carefully and gently brushed his skin as she pulled the hem of his shirt up.

He held the blood soaked shirt in his hand and went back towards the ottoman and sat down tiredly.

"Rich? Do you have a first aid kit?" Alice asked as she walked over towards him.

"I most certainly do," Rich said as he swung around in his chair, "and I have a sexy nurse outfit to go with it if you guys—"

"Kurt's hurt," Alice replied sternly. She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back on her heels, "he was hit—"

"Oh my God," Rich jumped up and went to grab the first aid kit, "is he okay? Does he need to go to the hospital?"

Alice shook her head and took the kit from Rich. "No, I don't think so," she swallowed hard, "I… I think I can handle it."

Rich nodded. "Call me if you need anything," he said and she gave him an appreciative smile and headed back into the bedroom.

Alice walked back into the bedroom and quietly shut the door behind her. She found Kurt sitting on the ottoman, eyeing her closely as she walked over, and neither of them said anything. He already had his shirt off and she felt herself inhale sharply at the sight of the blood. She at down next to him, placed the first aid kit in her lap and studied the injury closely. She unconsciously placed one hand on his back and he felt a shiver run through him. She took another deep breath as she inspected the injury and then sighed in relief when she confirmed for herself that it was in fact just a graze.

She remained silent as she opened the first aid kit and pulled a few items out and placed them on the bed. He watched her as she worked, her bottom lip caught between her teeth and her concentration completely focused on the task at hand. _On him._

Her touch was soft— gentle— as she cleaned the wound and he hissed between clenched teeth at the tinging feeling.

"Sorry," she whispered, the first words she'd uttered since she'd returned, and when she looked up at him, she found him watching her closely.

"I didn't say thank you," she whispered as she reached for the gauze, "for saving my life… I didn't thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," he replied.

Alice closed her eyes— he was sos close, his breath warm against her skin as he spoke and his muscles taut under her touch. "You were hit saving my life," she said quietly, "I _do_ owe you a thank you. At least. I can't imagine—"

"You're welcome," he replied and a moment later she tore her gaze from his to finish placing the bandage.

He thanked her quietly when she was done and then grabbed some of the clothes Rich had set up for them and excused himself to go to the bathroom.

When he returned, she was sitting on the edge of the bed facing the bathroom door.

"I can sleep on that chair," she said signaling towards the one in the corner of the room by the large window, "you should take the bed."

Kurt looked between the chair and the bed and then he tilted her head and gave her a crooked little smile. "If you honestly think I am letting you go anywhere near large windows again today, you're very much mistaken," he said jokingly.

And that got a smile from her. A genuine smile and she shook her head. "But you need the bed—"

"We can both take the bed," he said calmly, "it's big enough… we can pile those pillows in the middle if you're uncomfortable with—"

Alice shook her head awkwardly and looked down. "No, no, it's… I'm fine… I just don't want to hurt you—"

"Do you have a history of performing any dangerous stunts in your sleep?" He asked teasingly.

She looked up at him and chuckled. "I don't think so," she replied.

"Good," he walked over and pulled the duvet off the the bed, "then let's get some rest before they call us from the FBI to tell us they've got the son of a bitch."

Alice moved back, fixing the pillows behind her, and slowly she lay back. She watched him as he made his way over to the other side, pulled the covers all the way back and then lay down. He was lying on his side, facing her, keeping his injured side off the bed. She noticed he'd placed his gun on the bedside table and while she was never a huge fan of guns, she felt herself sighing in relief at the comfort it brought. She felt his eyes on her but she she shifted her gaze up towards the ceiling with her arms lying idly next to her body. He watched her as she continued to stare up, her minds tossing and turning with a million thoughts, her heart finally returning to a normal rhythm as she tried to come to terms with everything that had happened in the past few hours.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after a few long moments.

"Why's that?" He asked.

"None of this would have happened if I hadn't been acting like a spoiled brat," she said, still not looking at him, "if I hadn't snuck out for a stupid burger."

"Hey," he said softly, but she still wouldn't look at him. He shifted forward just a bit, keeping the wide distance between them. "Alice, none of this is your fault," he said.

"How can you say that? I was just so… stupid. So immature… All you guys were just trying to keep me safe and I was acting like…" she closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, "you were almost shot because of me. How are you not so pissed off right now?"

He watched her for a moment and then took a risk and reached across the bed, nervously reaching for her hand. "This is not your fault," he insisted as he squeezed her hand.

"I should have just stayed in the room—" he eyes were still closed— more tightly now as she struggled what the touch of his hand around hers was making her feel.

_Get it together, _she told herself.

"No," he shook his head and felt himself tugging at her hand— every professional instinct in him telling him to pull his hand away and get out of that bed, "if you'd been in your room… if that hitman had instead gone to window across the street from your hotel or snuck into your room… if I hadn't been there—"

His voice was thick with emotion, suddenly realizing that saving her life had meant more to him than just doing his job.

_When did he start caring about her more than just as a person of interest in a case? You can't do this. You can't do this._

But somehow the command his brain sent wasn't to pull his hand away. He found himself holding hers more tightly.

She finally opened her eyes and this time, very consciously, she turned her hand in his and threaded their fingers together. She shifted onto her side, coming face to face with him, and she swallowed hard.

"Kurt… you saved my life tonight," she said simply, "I can never… I don't know how I can ever…"

He shook his head and gave her that crooked smile again. He brushed his thumb back and forth against her hand.

"Just… don't die."

She wasn't sure who fell asleep first but she knew she did so holding his hand and never having felt this safe in her life.

And she woke up, she was alone in bed and she could hear the shower running in the bathroom. She checked the time and realized they'd only slept for a couple of hours. She dropped back against the bed and tried not to think too much about what had happened— not the assassination attempt. That she'd pretty much wrapped her mind around. Instead she struggled with what she was suddenly feeling for the man who for the better part of the week had been getting on her nerves every single minute of the day, who she had sworn to hate— or at least not at all appreciate his presence as her baby sitter.

She thought of how he'd held her hand and kept her by his side the whole time. She thought about how he'd brushed his hand over her knee and kept glancing at her while Rich rambled on and on. She thought about how he'd taken a bullet to save her.

She thought about how his skin felt under her touch, how they'd lay in bed together and held hands as they slept.

She thought about how he'd gone from an annoying uptight FBI agent to someone she felt inexplicably drawn to and unable to stop thinking about.

She sat up when heard the water turn off in the bathroom and a moment later the door opened. She looked over and saw him step out. He'd gone back to his regular jeans but was still shirtless. She'd been too distracted earlier when she cleaned his injury to realize that he'd been sitting there shirtless but this time around, that detail did not escape her. She was shamelessly staring at him when he noticed she was awake.

"You're up," he said casually, "I was gonna wake you when I was done."

His voice shook her out of her shameless staring and she cleared her throat, quickly looking away from his bare chest. "Is… is everything ok?" She asked.

"Yeah," he confirmed as he just stood a few steps away from the bed, "got a cal from the team that they're close to getting a location on our guy. So we better head to the NYO."

"Oh, okay," she mumbled and shuffled off the bed, "is… is everyone ok there?"

He unconsciously took a step towards her and nodded. "Yeah," he said, "both Afreen and Patterson are fine. They set up a small room for them and they're resting."

"Okay… yeah… good," she mumbled, "do we need to leave now or do I have time for a quick shower?"

She was standing right in front of him then, dangerously close, and his bandage was just inches from her fingers. "We have time," he whispered.

They both expected the other person to make the first move to get out of the way. But neither did. Instead, she reached over and brushed her fingers against his side— a soft feather touch that sent a shiver through his spine.

"How… how are you feeling?"

He didn't answer her. Not straight away at least. Instead, his hand wrapped around her upper arm and he tugged her closer.

"Alice," he whispered breathlessly and she looked up at him, her eyes dark, staring into his as they reflected the same desire.

He started to lean in, just as she rose up to meet him—

And just then, his phone rang.

* * *

I know. I know. Interruptions are the worst. But I cannot lie, they are so much fun to write!


	7. Chapter 7

"Can we stop for coffee?" Rich's said from the back seat— his voice gruff and sleepy.

"You can drink coffee at the office," Kurt told him with a quick glance at him through the rear view mirror. Rich was all but sprawled on the back seat, still half asleep.

The call that had interrupted their unprofessionally intimate moment back at Rich's had come from Mayfair. She informed them that they had made a lot of progress with the intel and she needed them to report back to the NYO immediately. "And bring your little friend with you," she'd said with a sigh, "we're gonna need him."

That had cut the moment he and Alice were sharing quite short— probably for the best Kurt thought to himself. She'd immediately went in to the bathroom to get ready and he'd gone to wake Rich up and get him ready to head into work.

He was relieved Rich was too sleepy to pick up on the awkwardness between them. He really didn't want Rich to be commenting on the obvious shift in their behavior. They were both very quiet. He had his eyes focused on the road, allowing himself only brief glances towards her, and Alice was sitting rigidly in the passenger seat, her gaze focused on the still relatively empty New York City streets as they made their way towards the FBI offices.

Fortunately the trip to the NYO was a quick one, and except for some of Rich's whining about how early it was and demanding Kurt make it up for him later, the ride wasn't too uncomfortable. Kurt pulled into the FBI building parking and parked the SUV in the first empty spot he found.

"I hope you made it clear to Stuart that he doesn't get to boss me around in the lab," Rich said as they waited for the elevator, "I don't care how many fancy degrees he has, I'm still not taking orders from him."

Kurt and Alice stood behind him, neither listening to his rambling as they made proper eye contact for the first time since the bedroom. For as much as it was awkward, it was still heated, and Alice had to consciously wrap her arms around herself and take a step away from him.

_Why is this so hard?_ She thought to herself. _Where is this urge to reach for him coming from?_

Kurt shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. He knew he had to get it together before they reached SIOC. Before Mayfair could pick up on any of this— and he knew she would. And more importantly, he had to pull himself together before they got ready to head out into the field and stop whoever's behind this.

_And maybe then—_

He shook the thought out of his head. He couldn't be thinking that. Not now. Not ever. This was just a case. A case that was getting very tricky.

Alice was relieved when they stepped into the elevator and Rich stood between the two of them. Of course he was still rambling— onto something about aliens and Stonehenge at this point. How we had gotten there was completely lost on her as she'd been a million miles away in her thoughts but was appreciative for him nonsensical distraction.

The elevator doors opened and Alice felt as though they'd walked into another universe. The relative quiet of the elevator was replaced by a beehive of energy— agents buzzing around as though it's the middle of the day and not so early in the morning, bright flashing screens, people on phone calls, tactical teams I full gear heading in and out. And the moment Kurt stepped into the middle of it all, he became the center of it, the focus of all that energy. And if Alice thought his performance at the diner last night was anything to admire, she was just realizing it was nothing compared to the presence he had at the office.

He must have really screwed up for his boss to demote him enough to be her body guard if this is how important he really was here. Alice watched in awe as agents came to him to papers to sign and things to confirm and they hadn't been there a few minutes and she'd already felt swallowed by it all. She turned to find a familiar face, even if it was only Rich, and she saw he'd left them already, heading towards what she assumed was the computer lab. For a moment, Alice felt slightly overwhelmed— a feeling she was not accustomed to.

But then Kurt turned to her, reached for her hand and gently pulled her towards him, pulling her out of the crowd, and he gave her a small smile.

"Brianna?" He called out and a young woman sprang up to his side.

"Yes, Agent Weller?" She said.

"Can you please take Ms. Kruger to her team? And get her anything she needs— coffee, breakfast..."

"Of course, sir," Brianna said and turned to Alice with a small nod.

"Are you going to be ok?" Kurt whispered to her, before letting go of her hand.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah," she said, "what happens now?"

"Now, just check up on Patterson and Afreen," he replied, "and I'll come get you when I know what's going on."

"Ok," Alice nodded.

"If you need anything, just get someone to find me," he squeezed her hand before releasing it.

She smirked playfully and rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself, Agent Weller," she said teasingly, "I don't need a babysitter."

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I know you don't," he replied honestly and smiled as she stepped away from him.

And she found herself holding his gaze as Brianna led her away.

"Alice!" Patterson ran towards her friend just as the door opened and lice stepped in. The two embraced and Afreen immediately joined them as Brianna stood by the door.

"Erm… just let me know if you need anything," the young FBI admin said and Alice turned to her with an appreciative nod.

"Thank you, Brianna," Alice said, "will you please keep us posted on what is happening?"

Brianna nodded. "I'll check with Agent Weller, ma'am."

Alice thanked Brianna and watched as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

"Are you ok? We were so scared! Are you hurt? Did—" Afreen rambled anxiously and Alice calmly reached for her, taking her hands in hers and smile.

"I'm fine," she said, "I'm absolutely fine."

"You were shot at!" Afreen whispered with tears in her eyes.

"Nothing happened," Alice insisted, "Agent Weller was in the right place at the right time. He saw the assassin and got me out of the way."

Patterson, who had been quiet during Afreen's short freak out, took a step back, crossed her arms and sighed heavily. "You just had to sneak out, didn't you?" She said— her voice more terrified than accusing— and Alice clearly recognized that. She knew her best friend well enough to know that this version of quiet Patterson was Patterson at her breaking point— a breaking point brought on by fear— and it was a rare thing.

Alice smiled softly and closed the distance between her and Patterson. "I know," Alice said, "that was stupid. Extremely stupid."

"But…" she aded with a small smile, "technically, it's a good thing that I did. It lured the hitman away from your guys and made sure Kurt was close enough to me to protect me."

Patterson digested that for a moment and then cocked her head. "Kurt?"

"Agent Weller," Alice rolled her eyes.

"You said _Kurt_," Afreen piped in with a smirk.

"When did it become Kurt? I thought you hated Agent Weller?" Patterson asked.

"I don't _hate_ Agent Weller," Alice squared her jaw, "I hate having a babysitter."

"Well, having a babysitter saved your life last night," Patterson reminded her.

"I know," Alice sighed and sat down, "I know."

"Wait, did something happen between you two?" Afreen questioned as she studied her closely.

"Why would you—" Alice's voice rose up slightly in defense.

"Something _did _happen!" Afreen practically squealed.

"Alice?" Patterson shot her a look.

Alice shook her head and looked at her hands.

"I don't… I have no idea what is going on… but whatever it is… it's intense."

Alice had given her friends a brief recap of the previous night's events— despite Afreen's efforts to ask for more details— and then managed to steer them back towards work, catching up on what she's missed and making sure they reschedule everything they were gonna miss and reply to all pending emails and calls. It was then that the door opened and a woman walked in— a woman who despite her stature commanded a lot of authority in her presence.

"Ms. Kruger," she said, "I'm Assistant Director Bethany Mayfair."

Alice got up and shook the woman's hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Assistant Director," she said.

"Likewise," Mayfair replied, "I see you've been keeping my team busy."

"I'm sorry, I—"

Mayfair shook her head and smiled. "No need go apologize," she said, "it's this office's honor to be working this case and hopefully be part of taking down these people."

"Thank you," Alice said.

"I thought you'd like to know that we've located the people who were hired to come after you," Mayfair said, "and we're coordinating with Interpol who have a team on the ground to arrest the Prime Minister's son. Our team is prepping now to head out."

"That's great news," Alice said, "is… is Agent Weller part of that team?"

Mayfair rolled her eyes and sighed. "I think you know him well enough now to know that he is," she replied.

"Is there a chance I can talk to him before they leave?" Alice asked nervously.

"Certainly," Mayfair said, "come with me."

Alice followed Mayfair through a series of corridors until they reached the room labeled "Locker Room". Mayfair opened the door and stepped in, taking one left turn around the first set of lockers. "Weller," she called out as Kurt came into view, "ready?"

Kurt looked up, first making eye contact with his boss as he fixed the strap on his vest and then saw Alice behind her. A small smile crept onto his face before he quickly looked down and coughed.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, "almost there. The rest of the team are already in SIOC."

"Good," Mayfair said, and then after looking between the two of them— a look on her face Alice wasn't able to decipher, she stepped back around and behind Alice. "Don't be too long," she said as she turned to leave the room.

Alice watched Mayfair leave and then slowly turned around. Kurt still held onto the straps of his vest but they were idle, his eyes on he instead.

Alice caught his gaze for a moment and then she shifted, looking around the tidy locker room, she took a small step forward towards him. "So you found where these guys are?" She asked.

Kurt nodded, matching the small step towards her. "Yeah, Rich's intel really paid off," he explained, "we tracked them to a townhouse not too far from here."

Alice nodded, a nervous smile on her lips and she took another step towards him. "Good, good," she said, "are Zapata and Reade going with you?"

"Yeah," Kurt confirmed— as he too took another step towards her— "a couple of other agents as well."

She knew they had to talk about what had happened that morning— or didn't happen. A part of her was pushing her to do so. She had never been one to shy away from awkward and uncomfortable conversations. But then she looked up and he was so close, his warm breath brushing her forehead and she suddenly became a little uncommonly terrified of what he might say if she did bring it up.

Was she scared he'd say it was a mistake? That they shouldn't— couldn't? Or was she scared he wanted this— whatever this was— as much as she did?

"Be careful," she whispered, locking eyes with him and her stomach almost flipped when he gave her a small smile.

"We will," he whispered back.

And then she remembered the bullet he'd taken last night. She remembered how he'd downplayed it and ignored his injury all that time. And so she found herself reaching for him, grabbing his hand in hers and squeezing.

"I'm serious, Kurt," she pleaded, "don't die."

He closed his eyes and and tugged at her hand, pulling her a fraction forward and for a brief moment, he just pressed his forehead against hers.

"I'll see you soon."

Alice stood in one of the corners of SIOC and watched as the team headed out. Once the elevator doors closed, she saw Mayfair give some orders to a few agents and then head in the opposite direction.

"Assistant Director Mayfair," she called out as she went after her.

Mayfair didn't stop walking, just slowed down a beat and looked over her shoulder. "What is it, Ms. Kruger?"

"I just wanted to ask what happens now?" Alice asked once she'd caught up with her.

"You can go back to your team," Mayfair said, "we'll come get you when this is all over."

"No, I mean—"

"The team heads out to the location and we coordinate with them here from the lab," Mayfair explained.

"Can I come with you to the lab?" Alice asked.

At that, Mayfair stopped walking and gave Alice a look— a scrutinizing, entertained look.

"So, I guess what they say about you is true," Mayfair smirked.

"What they say about me?" Alice coked her head.

Mayfair laughed and shook her head. "His reports make so much sense now," she said, "come on. Follow me. But… stay out of the way."

"Alice!" Rich exclaimed when she walked into the lab behind Mayfair, "welcome to my lab!"

If she were being honest, Alice was happy to see a familiar face in that room. It was buzzing with agents in lab coats and while Mayfair had been kind to her so far, she clearly wasn't warming up to Alice much.

"This isn't your lab," a very tall, very exasperated agent sighed from next to Rich, "how many times do I have to—"

"Ignore Stuart," Rich said to her as he grabbed her elbow and dragged her towards a stool, "the air gets thin all the way up there where his head is and he sometimes gets delirious."

"Does he have to be here?" Stuart complained to Mayfair who just glared at him.

"What have we got?" She said with arms crossed and a frown on her face.

"The team is on route," Stuart said, "we have them on comms. And we've tracked four people into the townhouse. They arrived separately about an hour ago and no one has left yet."

"We believe that is the whole team," Rich said, "based on the communications and payments between the PM's son and the hired hitmen. We've sent the team the blueprints."

"Interpol are on the line waiting for our command to move in," Stuart added.

"Alright," Mayfair nodded sternly, "let's get this done."

The next few minutes were tense. The team updated Mayfair on their position when they were a few minutes out. But the buzzing around Alice didn't stop. Quietly, she pulled her phone out and texted Patterson about what was happening. And they waited.

"We're on site," Kurt's voice came through the computers, "beta team, you're with me. Reade, Zapata, you take the back."

And at the that, everyone in the lab fell quiet— even the agents not working on this case.

Alice studied the screens. On one of them, she saw the plan of the townhouse and then saw as color dots appeared on the screen. Five of them.

"That's the team," Rich whispered to her, "the blue one if Kurt. The two red with him are beta team and the other two, the ones together, are Reade and whatshername."

Alice nodded nervously and watched the screen closely.

The agents cleared the rooms one by one, not finding any of their suspects as they moved through the first floor.

The team began to head upstairs and Agent Stuart switched the plan to show the house's second floor.

The silence and the tension grew heavier as the agents began clearing the second floor as well.

"Stuart," Kurt's voice was low and stern through the comms, "Are you sure they're here?"

"Yes, sir, Agent Weller," Stuart replied, "we've got eyes all around the property. No one has left since we saw them go in."

"Well, we've cleared every single room," Kurt said, "and there's no one here."

Alice chewed her lip nervously and kept her eyes locked on the screen. The colored dots were gathered in the hallway of the second floor having gone into each room.

She found herself studying it closely, analyzing every corner, and then she noticed something.

"There's a panic room," she said, "the house has a hidden panic room that's not on the plan."

"How do you know that?" Stuart asked.

"There's something off with the plan of that room right there," she pointed towards one of the rooms, "when the agents went in, they said, the red dots covered every corner of it…. But the red dot didn't reach the edge of the room as it is on the plan… there's a fake wall with a hidden room behind it."

"Are you sure?" Rich asked.

Alice swallowed and then nodded nervously. "Yes," she said, her voice more confident than she felt, "I'm sure."

SIOC was buzzing with excitement. Everyone was standing around waiting for the team's return. They'd arrested the four suspects and had received confirmation from Interpol that their mission too had been a success. Everyone stood by as the elevator made its was to them.

The doors opened and they were greeted by four proud smiling faces.

Four.

Only four.

They were five when they left.

"Where's… where's Kurt?" Alice turned to Rich with wide eyes.

She had left the lab to update Patterson and Afreen after they'd gotten confirmation of the arrest.

Rich turned to her and cringed.

"You… you don't know?" He asked.

Alice shook her head.

"There was a problem when he was cuffing one of the suspect. Kurt got stabbed. He's on route to the hospital."


	8. Chapter 8

AN: So here it is... the final chapter. A little epilogue after this. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who read and commented. I really enjoyed writing this little ficlet.

* * *

Alice somehow managed to avoid too much scrutiny and an onslaught of questions from Patterson and Afreen as she sent them off to pick up where they left off— starting with securing them new accommodation— and reschedule all her meetings and talks.

"Are you really going to go to the hospital?" Afreen asked.

"Alice, I don't think you should... I mean..." Patterson tried to argue but both women were left without a proper answer.

"I'll see you soon," Alice said as she handed them their things, "I'll personally call the ambassador back but please make sure you take care of everything else."

"No, Ms. Kruger," Mayfair sighed, "you can't just walk out of here—"

"But you got them. The case is closed," Alice argued.

"The case is not closed," Mayfair insisted, "you and your tram are still under the FBI's protection."

* * *

Alice crossed her arms and frowned.

"I understand your team has already left with one of our agents," Mayfair said, "so if you want to leave then you can, as long as you are accompanied by one of our agents."

"I want to go see agent Weller," Alice said.

Mayfair gave her a look, followed by a long pause, and then she sat back in her chair.

Mayfair was going to have a very long talk with Weller when this was over.

"Very well then," Mayfair said, "we have an agent on their way right now. You can go with her."

The moment Alice stepped into the hospital, she realized she couldn't really justify her presence to the nurses, so she stepped back as Agent Rose walked up to the nurses' station.

"Agent Rose with the FBI. I'm here for Agent Weller," she said with authority.

The head nurse stood up and walked over to them.

"Yes, this way please," she instructed and they followed her quickly.

"He's in surgery right now," she said, "he'd been caught under his vest and by the time he'd gotten here he'd lost a lot of blood. Fortunately, the doctor doesn't think any irreversible damage has been done."

Alice realized then that she's been holding her breath.

"You can wait here," the head nurse said as they entered a small waiting area, "if you need anything, please let me know."

Alice stepped in after Agent Rose and realized there was someone already there. Before getting a proper look at the person— she was sitting with her back to the entryway— Alice assumed it must be Kurt's sister. But as they walked around, she realized she'd seen that woman before. It was Allison Knight.

Agent Rose gave Allison a small nod as she silently sat down while Alice lingered back for a moment. She dug her hands into her jacket pockets and moved in.

"Hi," she said as she approached Allison and gave her a polite smile, "I don't think we were properly introduced the last time... at the children's museum... I'm Alice."

"Oh hi!" Allison stood up and took her hand, "of course! You were incredible— I'm sorry, I'm Allison. Allie."

The two women shook hands and then stepped back and sat down. "How are you doing? After last night?" Allie asked.

"I'm... I'm fine," Alice replied, "I'm sorry. But how do you know about—"

"Oh, I'm a detective with the NYPD," Allie explained, "my precinct was the one that responded to the shooting."

"Oh, ok," Alice said, "yeah... I'm ok."

They were quiet for a moment before Alice moved forward in her seat. "Are... are you Agent Weller's emergency contact?" She asked curiously— not sure why she suddenly felt a surge of jealousy.

She knew the woman was the mother of Kurt's daughter and that they were close friends— and that she had no right feeling jealous— and yet.

Allie shook her head and chuckled.

"Oh no," Allie replied, "that would never bode well for anyone. One would us would've killed the other a long time ago."

Alice relaxed back in her seat, finding herself surprisingly comfortable in the presence of the other woman— she had something about her that Alice liked and she was starting to realize how Kurt and Allison were such good friends.

"Sarah, his sister, is his emergency contact," Allie said, "but she's out of town for a few days and called me after the hospital got in touch with her."

"Oh," Alice replied, "she must be worried though—"

"I don't know," Allie shrugged, "this idiot gets himself stabbed or shot or blown up at least once a month. You'd drive yourself mad if you worried about him every time he ended up here."

Alice laughed at that but also felt a shudder run through her at the thought of Kurt always putting himself in such positions— and after the way he downplayed the gun shot last night, she knew it was him putting himself in such situations.

Idiot, she thought to herself.

Just then Allie's phone beeped and she glanced at it and smiled.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I just gotta make a quick call."

"Of course," Alice nodded.

Allie made no attempt to step away for the call, just sat forward and quickly dialed a number.

"Hey sweetie," she said into the phone, "are you having a good time with Nana?"

She paused for a moment and Alice could hear a toddler's voice on the other end.

"That's great," Allie replied, "now you be good and I promise I won't be too long. Ok?"

Allie ended the phone and sat back. "I swear, my mom was a healthy food maniac when we were kids," she laughed, "but now she stuffs Bee full of sugar every chance she gets. I don't know what happens to moms when they become grandmothers but I swear it has to be studied by scientists."

Alice laughed at that. Something told her her own mother would probably be the same— that phenomenon was an international one.

"Bethany is lucky to have you guys," Alice said— she remembered the way Kurt gushed about his little girl when he talked about her.

"We're the lucky ones," Allie replied, "she may have been a mistake but... you know it's funny. In our line of work, you rarely find yourself eager to have kids. When Kurt and I were dating, it wasn't ever that serious that we thought about it, but the topic hypothetically was discussed and we were both on the same length. Kids and our line of work didn't really mix."

"So it was never an issue while we were together," Allie said, "but then one weird drunken night... and nine months later Bee is born and she becomes the most important thing in our lives."

"It must have been... terrifying when you found out," Alice said.

"It was," Allie replied, "neither one of us handled it that well at first but Kurt came through for me. He somehow got a handle on things faster than I did and he's been unbelievable ever since."

Allie chuckled slightly and then smirked. "When it comes to Bee, I mean. He's still a complete pain the butt with regards to everything else," Allie teased, "but as a dad and a co-parent... he's amazing."

"Can I ask you something?" Alice said, "if it's not too—"

Allie shrugged. "Ask away," she replied.

"Why didn't it work between you two?"

"Ha!" Allie laughed and shook her head, "did you miss the part about him being an idiot and a complete pain in the butt?"

"No, I mean—"

"Look, Kurt is an amazing guy. One of the most wonderful people I have ever known," Allie said— her tone serious. "I don't think I've ever met anyone as good and honest and kind and loving as he is… but he's also the most introverted guy I know. He has these walls up and to be honest it took me years of knowing him before I could even get a glimpse of who he really is. And even then, he still found a way to lock me out. He's one of my best friends. I love him so much and would do anything for him," Allie said, "but it's gonna take someone special to be really able to get through all his walls. She's gonna be one lucky woman but… she probably doesn't exist."

Alice let that sink in for a moment, sitting quietly as he eyes shifted between Allie and the door to the operating room.

"You know what? I don't think Kurt has actually dated anyone since Bethany was born," Allie added nonchalantly, "except for a few blind dates that Sarah has set him up on."

They fell into a comfortable silence after that. Alice focused on her phone, catching up on messages and emails and coordinating with Patterson on what's to come. She sighed when she realized she had a meeting in an hour that could not be rescheduled or postponed.

It was not long before the door to the OR opened and the doctor stepped out.

Alice almost jumped out of her seat to meet the doctor, but then pulled herself back, perfectly aware how even her presence there would be considered inappropriate. She didn't want to push things even more. So she waited as Allie got up and walked towards the doctor before she followed her and stood a couple of feet back.

"He's fine," the doctor said, with a smile on her face that indicated she and Allie knew each other, "he was pretty lucky. Again."

Allie shook her head and smiled back. "At least he was wearing a vest this time," she sighed, "is he awake?"

The doctor shook her head. "Still have him sedated," she replied, "figured he probably hasn't slept in a few days so I thought we could let him get some rest."

The two women in front of Alice chuckled and Allie turned around to look at Alice. "I told you, he's a regular here," Allie said, "Alice, this is Doctor Horne. Doctor Horne. Alice."

The two women shook hands. "He has a habit of trying to get discharged the minute we wheel him out of surgery," Dr. Horne said, "so sometimes it's the only way to have him stay put."

Alice gave the doctor a small smile and nodded. Yeah, that sounded like him, she thought to herself.

"He's being transferred to a room right now," Dr. Horne said, "if you want to go up and meet him. I'll have one of the nurses tell you which room."

She excused herself after that and left.

"So, should we head on up?" Allie asked as she grabbed her bag off the chair.

Alice rocked back on her heels and shook her head. "Oh, umm… I should… I need to head out," she mumbled, "I just wanted to make sure he was going to be okay… but I… I've got a meeting I should get to."

"Alright," Allie smiled, "thanks for keeping me company. I'll let him know you were here if you want—"

"Yeah, sure… you don't have to, I mean—"

"I hope we get to see each other again, Alice," Allie smirked, "good luck with the rest of your trip."

* * *

Four Days Later

Alice's case was closed within twenty four hours of the arrest and the FBI was officially relieved of their protective duties. And the days after that had been hectic. Alice and her team had to catch up on everything they had missed. There were meetings and talks and speeches almost back to back every single day.

Alice had checked in on Kurt once after she'd learned he had left the hospital. It was a short phone call— comprising mainly of her making sure he was ok, making him promise repeatedly that he was not downplaying it, and both staying away from any other topic.

On his end, Kurt was also swamped with work— finishing the paperwork and building a case against the assassins and coordinating with Interpol. A part of him was glad the workload meant he was to preoccupied to think about anything else. But another part really… missed her. He'd searched for reasons to have to call her or talk to her or see her. But unfortunately, Mayfair had found a way to make sure every question he had could be answered by either Patterson or Afreen.

He knew she was doing it on purpose but he was not about to start that conversation with her.

Even though technically that time should have allowed him a chance to think and make sense of the situation and more or less come to his senses, he found himself four days later, living work early to attend a talk she was having at Columbia University.

He stood at the back of the large auditorium, once again finding himself in awe of her. She was taking questions from the students when someone walked up and stood right next to him.

"You're the guy who saved Jane's life, huh?"

Slightly startled, Kurt turned towards the man.

"You're the guy who saved my sister's life, aren't you?"

Kurt nodded solemnly. "You must be Ian Kruger," Kurt said extended a hand.

The man in front of him took it and firm firmly. "And you must be Agent Kurt Weller," he replied.

"I'm glad to see you're out in one piece," Kurt said, "you're sister was worried about you."

"Thanks," Ian replied, "And I believe the same could be said about you. She told me what happened... thank you. For everything you did."

Kurt gave him a short nod. "Just doing my job," he said.

Ian chuckled and turns to watch Alice for a moment. "I can imagine it wasn't an easy one," he said, "my sister can be a handful at times."

"No, no she..." Kurt's eyes were back on her, "she's incredible."

The two men watched the rest of the event in silence and then waited as the attendees slowly emptied the auditorium before they walked over together towards the stage— Kurt staying a few steps behind Ian to allow the man a proper reunion with his sister.

First to see them approaching was Afreen.

"Oh my God! Ian!" She gasped and behind her Alice swiftly turned around.

Ian gave them both a smile and hopped up onto the stage while Kurt remained behind him. He watched as the brother and sister embraced and Kurt silently waved a hello towards Afreen before looking back at the siblings and finally catching Alice's gaze. She smiled sweetly at him and he nodded, returning the smile, and silently communicating that she should properly welcome her brother first.

Ian gave them both a smile and hopped up onto the stage while Kurt remained behind him. He watched as the brother and sister embraced and Kurt silently waved a hello towards Afreen before looking back at the siblings and finally catching Alice's gaze. She smiled sweetly at him and he nodded, returning the smile, and silently communicating that she should properly welcome her brother first.

"When did you fly in?" Alice asked him as she stepped back from their hug.

"A couple of hours ago," Ian replied, "dropped my stuff off at the hotel, room a quick shower and came here."

"I didn't know you were coming," Alice said.

She saw Kurt get up onto the stage now and start helping Afreen put their stuff away.

"I wasn't gonna miss the big event tonight," Ian said, "it's not every day my sister gets a Medal of Honor."

Alice rolled her eyes. "I'm not getting a Medal of Honor," she said, "it's just a little... whatever."

"Well,either way, it's incredible," Ian insisted.

Alice looked at him for a moment, studied him closely, and then she spoke softly. "Are you ok?"

Ian gave her a tight smile and nodded. "I'm fine," he insisted— and then over her shoulder he saw someone walk onto the stage and he felt his throat tighten.

"Patterson," he said gently and Kurt looked up to see the typically composed blonde almost shudder and turn pale.

"Ian," she whispered.

Suddenly, Alice's brother was almost sprinting across the stage and pulled Patterson into a desperate hug.

"I was so worried about you," he sighed into her shoulder.

Patterson let out a sob and hugged him back just as tightly, her face buried desperately into his neck.

"Well, it's about damn time," Afreen chuckled from beside Kurt.

She looked up and noticed, the man next to her and her boss sharing an intense look and took that as her cue. "Well, I'll just...yup... I'm... I'll just be over there," she mumbled and took her things and walked off the stage.

"Well, that's interesting," Kurt commented with chuckle at Ian and Patterson.

"Yeah... good thing it only took both of them almost dying for that to happen," Alice laughed, "you have no idea how frustrating it's been watching them pine for each for almost half my life."

Kurt smiled and turned to look at her. Last time he'd seen her felt like a lifetime ago but he realized the urge to reach for her was still as strong, if not stronger, and at that he shoved his hands into his pockets.

She kept her eyes on Ian and Patterson for a moment longer than he did and when she finally looked away, she found him looking at her.

The look in his eyes took her breath away and suddenly a rush of emotion took over her.

She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around herself to stop them from reaching for him. "You promised me you wouldn't die," she whispered emotionally.

"I didn't," he found himself chuckling.

"You came pretty damn close though," she said, with clenched jaws, "I was so scared when they told me what happened. I—"

"I'm fine," he whispered, pulling one hand out of his pocket and brushing his fingers against her arms, "I'm right here."

She closed her eyes for a moment, the gentle touch against her arm almost too much— and the flashbacks to how scared she had been, the fear of something happening to him— it was all too much.

She couldn't see him step closer but she did feel him do so. She could also feel his fingers travel down the length of her arm until he reached her hand and grabbed it in his. And then he was pulling it away from her body towards his. She opened her slowly just as he lay her hand over his chest and pressed his above hers so tight that she could feel his heart beat under her fingertips.

"I'm right here," he whispered, "I'm right here with you."

She closed her eyes again, unable to bear the weight of the emotions, and then leaned into him and sighed against his chest when his free arm wrapped her in a tight embrace.

"Thank you," she whispered against him, "for... for everything."

They stood like that for a moment, both oblivious to the fact that those around them were watching them— at least briefly before they gave them their privacy and stepped out of the auditorium as well.

They finally pulled back and they smiled.

"Hi," Alice said sweetly and Kurt chuckled.

"Hi," he replied.

"How's your…" she slid her hand down his side to where she knew the bandages should be covering his stab wound.

"Good," he said, reaching for her hand and taking it in his.

He rocked back slightly— almost nervously as she watched intently— and then squeezed her hand. "I wanted to ask you something," he finally said.

"Sure," she said.

"I was wondering if you'd extended your stay in New York a few days," he said, "I know you're leaving on Friday but… I was hoping you'd stay at least till later on Saturday…"

She raised an eyebrow and her mouth twitched. "Why's that?" She asked.

"Well… I was hoping I could ask you out… I mean… I've got this thing on Saturday that I'd like you to come along to… it's just that—"

"Are you asking me out on a date Agent Weller?" She but her lip.

"I… I guess I am, ma'am," he replied.

"Wouldn't the FBI frown upon that?" She teased.

"I don't see how it's any of their business," he replied, "now that your case is closed… it sorta means we could do this."

He caught her slightly by surprise then, tugging her forward and pressing his lips to hers. It was a soft at first, gentle and tentative and cautious. But then it was her to took it a step forward, after her initial shock had subsided, and she brought her hand to the back of his neck and pulled him closer.

The only pulled back when they were interrupted by the auditorium's custodial staff taking the stage.

The jumped back, both giggling at the ridiculous situation and apologizing to the workers.

With her hand still in his— both of them flushed and out of breath— they swiftly stepped off the stage and made their way out of the auditorium. Standing right outside the door, they could see Patterson, Afreen and Ian waiting for them a short distance away.

"So… about Saturday?" He asked.

"What did you have in mind?" She replied.

"Well… it's actually Bee's fourth birthday and I'd love it if you would come with me, but if that's… if you're not comfortable with that—"

"I'd love to," she replied and then chuckled, "never in a million years would have I thought that Kurt Weller would take a woman to his daughter's birthday party for a first date."

"Not just any woman," he said, brushing his fingers against her cheek, "just you."

* * *

One Week Later

They were in his apartment, cuddled on the couch, their drinks on the coffee table in front of them and the take out boxes still sitting there as well.

"I'm going to have to leave eventually," Alice said somberly. Kurt just nodded, held her tightly against him and pressed his lips to her shoulder.

They both knew this was inevitable. Even when she decided to extend her stay a few days longer, they knew it was all just temporary— which was why Kurt had done something he'd never done before. He took the week off work to be able to spend every possible minute with her.

"I know," he whispered.

They'd spent the whole week together getting to know each other better, but the knowledge that it would all have to come to an end soon always lingered painfully.

She'd surprisingly enjoyed Bethany's birthday party a lot. It was a small event and luckily she already knew Allie so there was more than one familiar face there. She got to know Kurt's sister and nephew— and of course Little Bee. And the best part of it all was that she got to see Kurt— not Agent Weller but Kurt— and she got to see him with his family and his daughter.

Every day since then had been perfect.

Alice sighed and turned around to face him, brushing a soft kiss against his lips before she spoke. "I can't keep ignoring it anymore," she said, "and… and we have to talk about…"

Kurt nodded and pulled her towards him to rest his forehead against hers.

"We'll figure something out," he said, "if… if you want to, I mean… if you want this… us… to be more than just this week—"

"Of course I do," Alice interrupted him, "you know I do."

She pulled back and brought her hands up to his face, tenderly brushing her fingers against his cheeks.

"We can make this work," she insisted.

He leaned into her touch and closed his eyes.

"We will."


End file.
